HetaOni: Book of a Thousand Mistakes
by RandomPerson164
Summary: Haunted houses always mean bad luck. Add one book, thirteen nations, and no way out, and you've got a story to be told throughout the ages. (Fail summary is a fail. I'm bad at summaries. Anyway, rated T for gore and minor cursing, major HetaOni spoilers inside, and OC!HetaOni.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello all, and welcome to my first (and probably only) HetaOni fanfic! I've been obsessing over the fangame recently (That's probably why I've been so depressed…), and so I decided to incorporate my OC! Yeah, creative right? I'm actually writing this more for myself than for you guys, just because I feel like it… *sigh* I'm terrible. Anyway, here comes the ****uber**** long disclaimer message that probably no one will read anyway.**

**~~~DISCLAIMER~~~**  
**I do not own HetaOni, Ao Oni, or Hetalia. (If I did, they wouldn't be as awesome as they are.) They are all owned by their respective owners.  
I do not own a lot of the plot for this story. I'd say that I own between 2% and 6% of this story's plot, but that's about it. It's a fanfic based off of a fangame, what do you expect?  
I do not own the two characters Andorra and Malta. They are OCs that belong to two of my friends IRL (who I will soon force to get FF.N accounts, so you'll hear more about them ^j^). To my friends IRL who may be reading this: I may have messed up the descriptions…and personalities. Just a little. PLEASE TELL ME.  
The videos that I am basing this fic off of, the funny voices that I now hear in my mind every time I write this, and the term "toilet sushi" belong to the wonderful YouTuber MrEVOLVF. He should get an award for hilarity and optimism under dark circumstances. And for his epic Italy voice. 'Nuff said. (By the way, someone tell him that said happy birthday~!)  
****The comic that I also kinda base this off of is by ~mieulinhtu on DeviantArt. It's beautiful artwork, and awesome storyline work. She's amazing.  
****The cover picture actually belongs to a wonderful artist somewhere on the 'Net. Because I found it off of Google, and I wanted to use it. Please don't kill me for that.  
****I do, however, own 2% to 6% of the plotline, along with my OC Yugoslavia and her attributes. I also partially own the title, the other part of which has been "borrowed" from Shannon Hale's novel **_**Book of a Thousand Days**_**.  
****All other things that do not belong to me will be noted in future chapters.**

**Geez Louise, that was a mouthful. Oh well, I had to say it. No use in not giving credit, eh? :) Alright, I'll stop forcing you to read my mind's wanderings and just get to the story now. Feel free to review and give critiques, as long as they're nice! Hatsa la pasta~!**

**-x-**

**HetaOni: Book of a Thousand Mistakes**

**Chapter One**

Running.

That was all that it could do. Run, run, run for its life. There was no way for it to stay and fight, or for it to hide. There was nowhere for it to hide where IT wouldn't find him. There was simply no way.

And so it ran.

It ran from the kitchen, to the hallway, past the locked library door. It ran past the door, past the stairs, to the main foyer of this horror house. The hallway branched off in three directions from there: one straight ahead, one to its right, and another to its left. The path to its left was the shortest of them all, but it was exactly the path that he was looking for. It was the exit, the one door that separated its pudgy body from the safety of the outside world. It could hear the sound of IT's footsteps behind it, so it made the final decision that it knew could seal its fate. Jumping up as far as it could, it gripped the door's handle and turned it one way, then the other.

Nothing.

_No,_ it squeaked to itself. _No, it's locked? It can't be locked!_ It furiously tried again, and again, but its attempts all ended in failure. _No, that's impossible! There has to be a way out! There has to –_

Its mind drew to a halt as it heard the sound of raspy breathing from just behind it. Freezing in fear, it slowly turned around to face its attacker – or would have, if it had not been suddenly thrown from its perch on the doorknob, and if its vision had not gone black from the impact of the blow. It cried out in fear, in pain…

…But there was no one there to answer.

-x-

_A deserted house in the mountains, about three hours on foot from the world summit place._

_No one knows how long it has been there or who used to live in it. Rumor has it that it was haunted…_

-x-

A lazy afternoon sun poured amber ray onto the bright green treetops, falling in a dappled pattern through the leaves onto the rocky soil below. This forest stretched out in every direction, the extent of its size hidden by the peaks of jagged mountains dotted all around. Behind one of these peaks was Andorra la Vella, the capitol of Andorra and the host city of the latest world summit. And practically built into the side of another was a great mansion, a large building of brick, wood, and stone, standing proudly with its red-tiled roof skimming the tops of the trees beyond, all but hidden from the world around it.

From beneath the trees emerged a trio of figures, cautiously stepping into the light and gazing in awe at the mansion before them. They were all female and around the age of 20, but that was where the similarities ended. The tallest, a girl with dark blonde hair and blue-green eyes, had a small duffel bag dangling from one shoulder, as if she was planning to go somewhere as soon as their venture was done. The shortest, a usually-hyper brunette with hazel eyes, had been previously digging in her pockets for something, while the other, a brunette with green eyes, was attempting to walk normally with the added weight of a European otter spread across her shoulders. All preoccupations came to a halt when the mansion rose into their field of vision, reaching out toward them with the comforting sights of old bridges and a well-worn walkway leading right to the front door.

"It is really here," the blonde breathed, readjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder as she walked, flanked by her two companions. "It is so much bigger than I expected…"

The hazel-eyes brunette placed her hands on her hips, and stared harder at the stone-and-wood exterior of the mansion, as if she expected it to do something like disappear or talk back at any given moment. "I thought it was just a rumor… I never thought we would actually find it!"

"It has such a desolate feel," the girl with the otter commented, allowing the creature to scamper down her arm and leap nimbly to the ground by her feet. "Not bad!"

The blonde shot her friend a confused, questioning look. "Desolate? Is that how you would describe it, Andorra?"

"Hey," Andorra snapped, holding her hands in the air in mock surrender, "don't judge me, Yugo."

The other brunette snorted in annoyance, turning her attention away from the half-argument to examine the house again. "Well…I don't think it's very interesting, though. Can't we just look at it from the outside and then go back?"

"After all the trouble we had to find it?" Yugoslavia smiled at the girl encouragingly. Although her expression was that of the kindness expected from her, there was something _different _in her eyes, some distant twinge of –

"Don't tell me you're _scared_," Andorra chuckled amusedly. "Come on, Malta! We can just go in for a little while, right?"

Malta huffed, "I'm not scared! I just…" Trailing off, she let out an exasperated sigh. "…This place just gives me the creeps, that's it." These words were lost in the whistling of the wind, however, as the three started crossing the rocky lawn side by side, completely oblivious to the secrets that this mansion held from them.

Almost.

-x-

"…It is much cleaner than I thought, too."

That happened to be one of the truest statements that the three had heard all day. After forcing the door open (it wasn't even locked, for some strange reason – Andorra began to think that it was the fault of a few local rowdy teenagers), they had emerged into a relatively large foyer area, devoid of furniture aside from a chandelier high above their heads. A staircase rose into the darkness in front of them, standing beside a short corridor. Two other corridors stretched out in either direction, their ends also obscured in shadows. Everything was colored in earthy tones, from the cedar wood flooring under their feet to the simple beige paint decorating the walls. It gave off the impression of a recently-built home, except for the uncomfortable chill that wafted through the air. Andorra had entered first, so she had taken a place sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, glancing around at her surroundings. Malta was standing close by, trying to see the end of the hallway to the left of the foyer area. Yugoslavia, having been the last one to enter, still hovered near the door, crouched down and staring at the wood beneath her feet. The remark had come from her, not surprisingly. She appeared to be examining the flooring for dust, of which there was very little.

Malta broke her focus away from the blackened abyss at the end of the hall and glanced back at her friend. "What? …Yeah, I guess. H-hey, can we go now?"

Pressing her elbows to her knees, Andorra rested her head on her fists and grinned, fighting to hold back her laughter. "What's the matter, Malta? You scared?"

Before Malta could retaliate, a loud crash emanated from the hall to the right, echoing through the corridors and breaking the gentle silence of the mansion. They all flinched. Malta jumped nearly a foot in the air and was forced to steady herself on a nearby wall. Andorra leaped to her feet and nearly managed to fall off the stairs in the process. Yugoslavia tensed, clutching her duffel bag tightly to her chest, loosing her balance and falling onto her backside. They all stared in the direction of the crash, no one really wanting to be brave and go see what had caused it.

"…L-look," Malta stammered, clearing her throat nervously, "we really should go now."

Andorra let out her internal snickers, although whether they were real or just to relieve her stress, no one was quite sure. "Ha! Don't be silly. It's not like there are ghosts or anything. Where's your common sense?" Shrugging her shoulders to stretch them out a little, she stared in the direction of the sound and started walking, her pet otter trotting at her heels.

"Be careful, Andorra," Malta warned, standing back and holding out a hand to help Yugoslavia back onto her feet.

"I know," Andorra called over her shoulder. "I'll just go and see what happened. I'll be right back. Besides," she added with another laugh, "it's not like I'm going to die or anything!"

Malta could have sworn that she felt Yugoslavia's hand stiffen in her own, but when she glanced over at her, the Balkan nation looked completely normal, her mood its usual calm-but-careful uneasiness that came with situations like this. _Odd…_ Ignoring the strange paranoia in her mind, she glanced back at Andorra, who had flicked on a light switch before slipping through the door at the end of the hall, disappearing from sight.

-x-

The room was a kitchen. It looked like a normal kitchen, for the most part, with a refrigerator, sink, counters, and plenty of places for storing food. There was even a pantry in the corner of the room – at least, what she thought was a pantry. The room opened up into a sitting area-type space: a large white rug with four chairs scattered about it and a bookshelf hugging the wall. It was all very plain, to say the least. The only decoration was an aged bronze-colored clock sitting on top of the bookshelf, its hands frozen from potentially years of mistreatment and abandonment.

Andorra saw all of this and had no definite thoughts. Sure, she thought that it was plain, but that's it. Even in its plainness, the room just didn't have any significance. There weren't even any plates or cutlery in this kitchen. There was only… She paused when her gaze swept over the scene of a pool of shards near the edge of one of the counters, and the otter glaring at them and chittering quietly to itself.

"Stay away from that, Keongwoo," she warned, nudging the otter away from the shrapnel as she kneeled down beside them. "A ceramic plate…? It's broken. I have to be careful not to hurt myself." _Then again…_ Reaching down and gently picking up a piece, she snatched a discarded dishcloth from the counter and wrapped it around the broken ceramic, stuffing it in the pocket of her jeans. _…Then again, it can't hurt to have something sharp with me, just in case…_ She pushed herself to her feet and started once again toward the door, Keongwoo scampering across the floor to take up its place at her side. Somehow, her eyes caught sight of a trash can far across the room from her, filled with an empty box labeled "SUPER TOASTS" in black ink.

…_Okay then._

Shaking her head in confusion, Andorra reached for the cool metal of the doorknob and turned it slightly, hearing the tumblers inside groan with the unusual movement. Nevertheless, it clicked open in less than a second, and so she forced it open to rid herself of the object obstructing her path. When she did, she didn't know what to think.

She saw nothing.

**A/N: I'm sure I completely screwed up half of this chapter, with my wonderful OOC interpretations of those OCs… Eh, whatever. Expect extremely random updates, but more to come later~! (By the way, because of my OCD-ness when it comes to grammar, some direct quotes from the game may be changed a little. Sorry about that. And the whole three-person thing instead of four. Some other stuff will be edited because of that. But I still don't own the plotline.)**

*** And before anyone asks, YES, ****Keongwoo is the otter, and NO, I had no idea that it was a name before my friend (the one who owns the OC Andorra) told me about it. ***


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE I HAD CANADIAN AND ITALIAN VIEWS~! Sorry, I get hyped up over stuff like that. It's a quirk. ^^' Read and review, guys! I really want to hear feedback from you all!**

**Chapter Two**

Andorra saw nothing.

Well, it wasn't exactly _nothing_. I mean, she didn't go blind or anything. She could still see the cedar floors, the beige walls, the staircase in the near distance, and the door directly to her right. Her vision wasn't impaired at all. The problem wasn't _what_ she saw, but _who_.

Having said that, Andorra saw nothing.

The foyer was completely barren of anything now, including the two countries that had previously been standing there. In fact, there was no trace of anyone ever setting foot in the place, aside from a small a few tangled strands of blonde hair blown dismissively into the corner of the room. If possible, the air seemed thicker and stuffier, yet the cold still remained. Andorra pulled her jacket closer around her to ward off the chill. _Did they leave after all? It doesn't seem like something they would do…_

…_That sucks._

Crossing the foyer, listening to her footsteps echo through the darkened house, she grabbed the doorknob of the entry and turned it. The door wouldn't give way, however, and rejected her requests of opening with silent defiance. Andorra stared bewilderedly at the metal knob through her hand. "…Well, this is a really bad joke," she commented aloud, trying to steady her nervous voice as she jiggled the handle once again, more rapidly this time. "Yeah, it's just a joke…or am I really stuck here? No, the other must still be here. They wouldn't just leave like that, right? I'll just have to look for them."

_Look at me, narrating to myself like I'm in a book or something. Just like Yugo_. The thought was slightly comforting to the stranded Andorran, and it made her chuckle slightly as she started down one corridor in hopes of finding any signs of life. She passed by a door, which she found to be locked after a quick test of the doorknob, then turned to her right when she reached a bend in the hall. Her eyes had quickly adjusted to the pale light of the mansion's interior, so she examined the walls for anything of interest. There was a doorway to her right, another directly in front of her, a large gray thing standing in front of _that_, a –

_Wait a minute._

Half-obscured in shadows, the "thing" was a sight to behold. It was slightly taller than the doorway and ashen gray in color, with a huge head balancing on a long neck connected to a humanoid-ish body. It was turned away from her, so she couldn't see its face, but she imagined it with big black eyes similar to those of the aliens in America's movies. She didn't know whether to cry out or stay silent at first, but after a moment of staring at the "thing," she decided to keep her mouth shut. It must have been a good idea, because as soon as she decided, it darted inside the room at a frightening speed and shut the door behind it, sealing itself off from the rest of the mansion.

"…!? Wha… What the heck was that? M-Maybe I'm getting tired… Yeah, that's it…" Staying closer to the wall this time, Andorra slipped through the threshold on her right and emerged into a large bathroom with several empty shelves and a toilet hidden behind a long wall. Like the kitchen, there wasn't that much to see. The vanity mirror was covered in so much dust and grime that it was impossible to see anything in it. A shelf nailed close to the ceiling held several bottles once filled with who-knows-what. The toilet, upon further examination, appeared to be just an ordinary toilet, made of surprisingly clean white porcelain. _Nothing to see here._

Returning swiftly to he foyer – _I'm not getting any closer to that thing than I have to_ – Andorra glanced down the corridor beside the stairs before climbing upward, surfacing on the second floor. The design scheme was the same, for sure. She ignored her stomach, which was suddenly growling like an angry lion, and poked her head inside of the first door she saw. It was a bedroom, one with a small bed, several bookshelves pressed against the wall, and a pair of chairs side by side facing a slightly dated television set. She saw something glint faintly in the corner of her eye; turning around, she noticed a brown-handled meat cleaver poking out from under the bed, its smooth silver blade slightly scratched and worn from use.

"Is that… Malta's knife?" With gentle hands, she picked up the weapon, giving it a good once-over before confirming its identity. "What's it doing in a place like this?" _Maybe she dropped it… But where would she be?_ Glancing down the hall once again, she noticed a second doorway no more than ten feet away, as well as a third farther down. For some reason, she was drawn to the third over the second. _Eh, why not?_ Sneaking soundlessly through the hall, she pushed through the third door and took a step inside.

Surprise! It was another bedroom, very similar to the one before it. The only difference was a large white curtain hanging from the wall beside a small chest of drawers, its ends stained gray with age. Andorra was about to ignore it when she noticed it tremble, shaking rapidly from whatever was hidden behind it. She reached for Malta's knife, which now hung from her belt at her side, tightly gripping the handle as she took a fistful of the curtain and threw it aside.

"M-Malta?!"

For once, the Maltese girl was silent, hugging her knees to her chest and shaking violently. Her eyes stared at nothing, focused on a dot far more distant than the wall just inches from her face. She didn't even seem to see her friend at all.

Andorra's lips drew into a thin line of confusion. "…Malta, where's Yugoslavia?"

No answer.

"You look…shaken. I'll go get you something to drink." Replacing the curtain, Andorra fled into the hall, her mind still trying to process what just happened. _She's never been just silent before. I wonder what happened to her… First I need to get some water._ She stomped down the stairs and turned on her heel so that she faced to the right, the direction of the bathroom. _I don't want to be near that thing again… But it's better than the long walk to the kitchen. I'm getting tired._ Obtaining said water was pretty easy – the tap was working, despite her previous worries about having to substitute it for toilet water – even though it looked a little strange to be water. _Whatever. It's probably…safe…_

"Hey Malta?" Andorra entered the bedroom cautiously, as if she was expecting her friend to be asleep. "I brought you some water. It'll help you calm down a little. It's not filtered though" Kneeling beside the quivering nation, she raised the glass to Malta's mouth and poured a little, just enough for Malta to snap out of her trance, grab the cup, and drink it herself. She sputtered a little as she drank, and a slightly disgusted look spread across her face.

Malta, now aware of her surroundings, wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her shirt, her voice wavering as she finally spoke. "…Was that…really water?"

"Judging by its color…" Andorra considered, shrugging nonchalantly. "…probably."

"Oh." Malta stared at the now-empty glass, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Anyway, sorry for falling apart like that. I feel much better now, thanks to you."

"That's good to hear. So, where's Yugoslavia?"

Malta's head dropped slightly, her voice stabilizing but lowering in volume. "I'm…not sure. At any rate, we both ran for our lives… We went in different directions…I think." The slight guilt in her voice was plain to see, so she sucked in another lungful of air to keep herself calm, squeezing her eyes shut. "Sorry, just… Give me a second to pull myself together."

"Sure thing." Andorra got to her feet once again, still holding back the curtain with one hand. She nudged the glass aside with her foot. "I'll go look for Yugo. Try and get some rest, okay?"

"Sorry… Oh, by the way, I found this when I was running. Maybe it'll be useful to you?"

Turning around just in time, Andorra snatched a small metal object out of the air just as it sailed past her shoulder, the cool, smooth surface pressed against her palm. It was a gold-colored key, tarnished with age, with a light inscription on the flat end reading **LIB**. "Oh, cool. Thanks." She pocketed the key and once again slipped out the door away from her friend.

_**LIB**__?_ Her mind was solely on the key as she made her way toward the stairs again. _That could stand for library… Maybe it's downstairs? Couldn't hurt to look, right? _In a flash, she was on the first floor, standing in front of the first locked door she saw. _Please work…_ Inserting the key into the keyhole, she turned it, hearing a satisfying click as the tumblers gave way. _Nice! I wonder what's in here…_ The question didn't last for long, however, as she swung the door open and took a confident step inside.

It was almost like someone had turned off the heating completely. It was even colder in the library than it was outside, and there was this weird feeling that Andorra kept having even after her first few steps. It was like a ringing in her ears, like the creepy viola music in the background of horror films. Rubbing her arms to rid herself of the goose bumps that were threatening to come, she scanned the many shelves of books. There were so many; _Yugo would have a field day in here,_ she commented to herself, turning her attention to the table across the room. _She would love to be in here, with all of these books to – WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?_ Skirting the edge of the table, she stared at the suspicious object until she was right n front of it. Then, she stared at it some more.

"T-this is…sushi." Andorra picked up the rice ball with one hand and raised it to her nose, taking a whiff. She was briefly reminded of her angered stomach. "It smells pretty good. It's already wrapped up, too. Maybe I could just…" She stuck the Japanese delicacy in the pocket of her jacket, turning away from the table and starting for the door once again. That ringing in her ears was back, and it was getting really annoying at this point. "Maybe I should get my ears checked. It's probably not – WHAT THE CRAP?!" From out of nowhere, a huge gray shape appeared, barreling toward her faster than a freight train. She had barely enough time to dodge it before it slammed into the wall, dazed for just a second.

_That thing…_ She saw its shape: ashen gray, huge head, long neck, humanoid-ish body. _Oh crap, not THAT again… I have to get out of here! _She tried making a break for the door, and would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that cursed lock. "It's locked? But I…" _The key! Oh no… Did I drop it?!_ _Crap, this is bad…_ She could just hear the Thing's footsteps behind her, getting closer with every passing moment. _What am I going to do? I can't just – _At that second, she remembered something. The key had left her grasp while she was looking at a book near a dead end in the shelves, but she didn't remember picking it back up.

_Of course._

Dashing across the room, she skidded to a halt by the bookshelf and dropped to her knees. _I swear, if it's under this thing…_ Luckily, she didn't have to finish her empty threat, because the key was hidden in the shadow of a book on the bottom shelf, impossible to see from her previous height. "I found it! Now I have to get out of here!" The Thing was blocking the only exit now, her other three sides obstructed by walls and nearly immobile shelves. Before she could think, her body decided to utilize an epic ninja move she had seen in one of China's movies one time: she ran toward it, then dropped to the floor and slid between its legs, her eyes never leaving the door in the corner. If she wasn't scared out of her mind, she would've congratulated herself on her ninja skills, but at a time like this, she was only focused on leaving. Jamming the key into its proper place in the doorknob, she flung the door open then slammed it behind her. Now, the only thing she could hear was her own breaths, raspy and energetic in contrast to the lethargic air around her.

"… Wha… What on Earth was THAT?!" She slid down the length of the wall, sitting down against it when she was a reasonable distance away from the library door. "I have to find Yugo as soon as possible. Who knows what trouble she's in by now…"

**A/N: I feel so sad. This chapter is an epic fail. The paragraphs are all screwed up… I didn't even add Keongwoo in this one! It just would've been annoying, adding the otter's every move as well as Andorra's… Well, I hope you all like it~!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'd finally gotten through my adaptation of the first MrEVOLVF HetaOni video, and don't I feel like a fail. I'm afraid that this story is going to be around two chapters per video, so that would be nearly fifty chapters… Well, whatever. Enjoy my writing fails of epic proportions~!  
In my own defense, I have no idea why the heck Malta would have a meat cleaver with her. That's what my IRL friend said was her weapon, so don't hate.**

**Chapter Three**

_Yes, I remember._

_It always started this way. We would get separated, and someone would have to look for us… Although it was a different person every time, they always came. They always found us, one after the other. It is strange that I remember all of this now, at a time like this, when lives are at stake. This is no time for reminiscing. And yet… And yet I have the feeling that this time is different. Some way, somehow, it is different. Maybe they will figure it out on their own. Or maybe I will –_

_No, do not think like that. That will never happen. As long as this world still turns, I will not allow that to happen. _

_I promised._

-x-

At this point in time, "scared out of her mind" would have been a complete understatement. If anything, Andorra felt as if her mind had gotten so scared that it leaped off of her shoulders and ran away to cower in one of the kitchen cupboards. Several minutes had passed already – she would have known exactly how long, if her watch had not stopped earlier in the day – and yet the feeling of dread barely left her. It was almost as if that Thing was still standing above her, glaring at her with those black-as-coal eyes, waiting for her to snap like a dried twig.

_Dried twig?_

She finally forced her eyes to focus when the strange metaphor popped into her mind, sitting up a little straighter and listening to the sound of nothingness wash over her. It was an eerie nothingness, the kind that is present in graveyards and ruins in the twilight hours. It was really creeping her out. _At least this is better than that weird ringing in my ears. Wait a minute… Shouldn't that thing still be in there if it's alive? If it was, wouldn't it be making some kind of noise?_ Propelled by her sudden curiosity, she scrambled to her feet and stared at the dreaded library door once again, bracing herself for impact when she threw it open once again.

If she was expecting some kind of scare, she was wrong. The room was exactly the way she found it, aside from one extremely large alien-like creature that was obviously looking for blood. The ringing in her ears wasn't even present anymore, and the room seemed to heat up a few degrees since she last set foot inside it. The books were still there, all in pristine order, as well as the large table. Gripping her broken ceramic piece tightly in one hand, she treaded along the outer wall of the library toward the table, the one place she didn't get a very good look at before being attacked by the psychotic Thing. "Alright, let's see what we've got here…"

The table was cluttered with various papers and books, most of the books being encyclopedias opened to random pages. The loose papers appeared to be notes of some kind, like those created in prelude to a research paper, but they weren't that interesting when she took a closer look. Pushing them to the side to bring a surprisingly small book beneath them, she heard the soft cling of something metallic dropping to the ground. _As if there aren't enough secrets in this place…_ Glancing down at her feet, she spotted another key, this one tinted bronze, with a different inscription marking it. **4F**. The meaning of this one was a little more obvious: the fourth floor was her next destination.

-x-

Andorra decided that she no longer liked stairs.

After being on her feet for nearly three hours coming to this place, and maybe an hour or two more after that, she was starting to get just a little tired. On her way, she didn't even bother checking the doors on the third floor; she wouldn't put it past the people who once lived at this place to lock the doors on an entire floor just for the lols. **[1]** Pushing all negative thoughts aside, she jammed the key in the lock and forced her way inside of the room.

An attic space filled her vision once the door was cast aside, with a ceiling slightly slanted down at an angle in front of her. Aside from a few stray boxes here and there, the room could have been a personal study, with several chests, another dingy curtain, a small desk, and a bookshelf pushed into one corner. It was still quiet, but in a peaceful way, not the quiet nothingness that engulfed the library downstairs. However, there was another presence somewhere inside the room, although she couldn't quite figure out where…

…Until the bookcase shook and let off a high-pitched "Mokyuu~!"

"What?" Andorra flinched, hiding behind the chests as she slowly stalked toward the speaking shelf. "Stay back! I-I have… I have a gun!" Her tone made it obvious that she didn't, but even so, it couldn't hurt to attempt fearlessness.

"Mokyuu…? Mokyuu! Mokyuu~!"

There it was again, that strange voice that emanated from behind the wall of books. _Strange, _Andorra thought to herself. _It almost sounds like a wounded animal or something. …It's not the Thing, that's for sure._ She brushed away her fears and placed her palms firmly on the end of the bookshelf, using all of her strength to drag it across the floor and away from its previous location. Satisfied with her work, she turned back toward the wall and stared at the white thing stuck in it.

The white thing stared back.

She wasn't quite sure what to call it. It was white, obviously, with a pudgy spherical body, a dusty-blonde cowlick (despite the fact that it has no other hair whatsoever), and bright blue eyes partially hidden behind a pair of small glasses. It took her a minute to recognize it, but then an image of Estonia holding a creature similar to this came to her mind. _What's it called again?_ "A…mochi?" _Yeah, that's it._ "Aww, poor guy. Are you stuck?"

"Mokyuu~!" The mochi wriggled around in its place in the wall, unable to free itself from its drywall restraints.

_How did it get in this wall, anyway?_ Andorra gently grabbed its sides and tried to pull it away from the wall, only to be rewarded with distressed cries from the creature. "Sorry, I can't get you out. Not like this. Poor thing… Maybe Malta would be able to get you out, though. I wonder if she'd do that." _Then again, I'd probably have to get HER out… Nah. Anyway, I'll ask her later. _She backed away from the mochi and gave the room a once-over before darting back down the stairs and swinging around the corner to the bedroom she last saw Malta in.

"Hey Malta? I –"

…_What the heck is that?_

Rather than a curtain hanging from the ceiling, there was in iron door bolted firmly into the wall, glinting faintly in the light from the hallway. There was no way that it could have randomly appeared there, right? _Or am I just going insane? Hopefully not. I haven't made my bucket list yet_. She cautiously tapped the door with her foot, not wanting to hurt her knuckles pounding on it. "Er, Malta? Do you have a minute?"

"Andorra? Is that you?" It was definitely Malta's voice, but it sounded strained, and there was some noise in the background that sounded a little like the pounding of a hammer. "What's the matter?"

_A hammer?_ "Well, there's this thing stuck in a wall in a room on the fourth floor – I think it's called a mochi. I feel a little sorry for it, so I was wondering if you could try to get it out."

"Really? Okay, I'll go check it out. I just have a favor to ask of you, though."

"Sure, if it's something I can do."

"When I was running, I was holding a knife – it was one from my kitchen that I brought along – and somehow I dropped it. I think we should have some kind of weapon in case that _Thing _shows up again, you know? So could you go look for it for me?"

Andorra smiled victoriously, not bothering to stifle the enthusiasm in her voice. "You mean your meat cleaver? That's a coincidence! Actually, I found it a while ago! Here, I'll pass it to you." She kneeled down and pressed the large knife on the floor, sliding it through the crack under the door.

"…Oh."

"It was lying near the bed next door."

"Oh, er… Okay… Um, thanks."

"No problem! I actually only found it by chance." Andorra reached for the handle of the iron door, hoping that it wasn't as solid as she thought. "C'mon, let's go to the fourth f –"

"Ah! Andorra! I'm sorry, but…"

She flinched back from the handle, not expecting the sudden urgency in her friend's voice. "…Yeah? What is it?"

"Ah… I'm really sorry but… Actually, I'm hungry too. Do you have anything to eat?"

_To eat? Seriously?_ Andorra scowled at the ground between her feet. _Well, I know she doesn't really like Japanese food, so the rice ball is out._ "Sorry, but I've got nothing. I don't have anything that could be used as an ingredient either…" _I would still have my candy if Yugo hadn't taken it from me before the summit…_

"I see!" If Andorra didn't know better, she would have thought that there was a spark of relief in Malta's voice just then. "So it's not too tough, could you please go look for something to eat?"

"Whoa, what?!" She subconsciously took a step backward, partially from confusion, partially from the unnaturally hammer-ish background noise that seemed to be coming from out of nowhere. "T-that's impossible! How could anyone find food in this place?! It's abandoned, in case you haven't noticed!"

"Please! I have no strength right now. Anything' fine, just find something, okay?"

Holding back a groan, Andorra pressed a hand to her temple. _Leave it to Malta to start whining over food. Although, she has been acting a little weird today…_ "Fine. I'll go take another look around. Hopefully that thing will stay out of my way this time."

"Thanks Andorra! …By the way, have you seen Yugo yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure she's fine." _Somehow,_ she added mentally.

"Yeah, I bet. Sorry for the trouble. Oh! You drink, right? I found this a second ago. Maybe you could use it!"

The door opened just a crack, just enough so that a cylindrical object could fly out and (barely) land safely in Andorra's outstretched arms. The surface of the object was glass, cool and a little damp against her palms, starting out as a cylinder then narrowing at the top. A dark amber liquid sloshed around inside of it, bubbling with every slap against the glass. _This is…beer? How did she even find this?_ "Er, thanks. I guess I'll get going then."

"Okay!" The iron door slammed itself shut again, just like that, muffling the distinctly metallic _clangs_ that suddenly erupted within.

They fell on deaf ears as Andorra slipped away from the room, disappearing into the silence of the hall. This was not going to be the last time.

-x-

_Every time, I made a mistake. Every time, someone went somewhere they should not have gone, or did something they should not have done. Why was it never me? Why was it always everyone else? Why must I feel so useless? Why do I keep making mistakes? How much longer will I have to suffer this fate?_

…_Why did I even discover this place at all?_

**[1] – "Just for the lols" © MrEVOLVF. Because his quotes are awesome.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_How long has it been now? Minutes? Hours? Days, even? The concept of time has become foreign to me. There is no time. There are only the events that take place here, outside the boundaries of the sanity that we know in the outside world. Of course, this is the new normal for me. The outside world has become just a figment of my imagination. It no longer exists to me; there is only the mansion. I have been here for so long…and they have no idea. They have no idea what I have gone through, how much I have changed. They have never known, and I hope it will stay that way. If they learn, if they discover the truth too soon…_

…_They would never be able to handle it._

-x-

Food.

That was the only thing on Andorra's mind at the time. Not the Thing, not the bottle of alcohol that she was still holding in one hand, but food. She couldn't deny that she wasn't hungry too – just the thought of actually finding something made her own stomach start to claw at itself as if it can break free and find something itself. _Maybe I can check the kitchen for – Wait a minute. _The last time she was in the kitchen, which was probably only an hour or two ago, there was absolutely nothing that could possibly sustain life except for maybe those discarded "super toasts." _Then again, who knows what THOSE are…_

"Eh, whatever," she murmured dismissively. "I'll look in a second." She didn't bother saying her next thought out loud, because even though she was pretty much alone aside from the psychotic alien Thing that constantly seemed to be stalking her, it would have still sounded a little awkward.

Nevertheless, she still headed for the bathroom on the first floor. Hey, she had to go sometime, right?

-x-

Standing in front of the toilet and staring down at its white surface, she realized something. _This toilet has changed, _she told herself. Although the comment would have sounded ridiculous to anyone who was not standing beside her at the moment, it was completely true. Said toilet, which looked ordinary when she saw it before, now sported some kind of strange vending machine-type system in its tank, complete with slots for money and several small buttons lining the tank's lid. A sign attached to the wall above it showed the two items that were available: rice balls and beer.

_Rice balls and beer?_ Andorra stared at the toilet with a look that could only be described as a "what the heck" face. She thought back to the rice ball still in her jacket pocket, and the beer still clutched tightly in one fist. "Well, I might need it later…" Digging in her pockets, she found that she had only enough money for two more rice balls, so she decided on her order and stuffed the money in. A moment later, a small plastic bag dropped onto the floor beside the toilet, filled with exactly two rice balls and a single note. She glanced at the scrap of paper slipped between the sushi.

_Thanks for using our service! (Don't worry, it's clean!)_

"Well, there's obviously nothing here that isn't made of rice," she muttered, sauntering away from the machine with her purchases in hand. "Malta will just have to live with it then. I bet she'll…"

The door was open.

No, not the door to the bathroom that she had just left. She made sure to close it firmly both when she entered and when she exited it only moments ago. That wasn't the problem. The door she was speaking of was the one at the end of the hall, the one that she had seen the Thing disappear into when she first saw it. That couldn't be a good sign. _Unless it's Yugo… But if it was, why would the light be out?_ Darkness was pouring out of the room beyond, thick and ominous, tinged with the faint scents of rotting wood and fear. She slowly approached the room in question and knocked once on the open door. "…Yugo, you in here?" A few steps later she found herself enveloped by the darkness. There was so much of it that she could barely see inches in front of her face, winning the battle against the weak light from the corridor at her back. _Wow, it's pitch black in here. Where's the switch, I wonder…?_ Pressing her hand to the wall, she felt around for the familiar bump that denoted a light switch, and when she found it, she had only had a millisecond to flick the tiny lever up before her mind screamed a sudden command at her.

_Dodge!_

Andorra obediently threw herself to the side, landing against the dingy tiled floor as a gray blur flashed past in the corner of her eye. Her rice balls and beer flew out of her hand and rolled somewhere outside of her field of vision, but she didn't care at the moment. _If it's that Thing again, I swear I'll…_ She reached behind her and grabbed the first thing she felt: a wooden cylinder with a considerable amount of weight on one side. Scrambling to her feet, she hefted the thing into both hands, distributing its weight evenly as she glanced down at it. It was a pickaxe, classic construction of a wooden shaft and an iron head with one end pointed and the other end blunt. "Ha, I knew I left this somewhere! If Russia knew I lost it, he'd flip out…"

She didn't have time to consider this for very long before gray filled her vision again, turning her attention away from the loaned pickaxe to glare at the Thing standing in her path. "Oh no," she hissed, readjusting her weapon in her hands, "you're not going to kill me tonight."

The Thing only glared back, reaching into her soul with its lifeless black eyes glinting with bloodlust. All it wanted at the moment was her dead. It wasn't given time to act on its desire, however, before a rather heavy metal hand slapped it across the face, throwing it back against the wall. The blow did a great amount of damage, leaving the Thing bleeding from one cheek, but it refused to back down as it snarled at its opponent.

"_YoU… WOn't… Esc…aPe…"_

The voice was guttural and gravelly, the kind of voice that sounded completely inhuman in its certainty. In fact, it was even creepier than the Thing itself, which was just a little unnerving to Andorra. Despite her fears, she stood tall and neatly dodged its next lunge, aside from claw leaving a long scratch across her face. She raised her pick once again and swung it with all her might, aiming directly for its forehead. "_Sabor__meu ferro__, __monstre_!" **[1]** The pick itself followed its destined path exactly, embedding itself into the Thing's head directly between its eyes. However, it did next to nothing in stopping it as it threw itself at her again, the blunt end of the pick narrowly missing hitting her in the throat. It ripped the weapon from itself and threw it across the room, where it slammed into the switch with a shower of sparks trailing after it. The room went dark again.

_The lights! _Andorra pressed her back against the wall, her chest heaving as she tried to regain her lost breaths. _Crap! Is it going to kill me now? I bet it's just waiting for me to start running before it goes for the kill. It's going to keep me locked up in this room to slowly die without –_

The lights turned back on.

"Eh?" Andorra winced at the sudden wave of whiteness that blanketed the room, only looking up when her eyes finally adjusted themselves to the new brightness of her environment. "I-It's gone…" Not only the Thing, but the blood it had left behind was gone too, as if the entire battle was all just a figment of her imagination. _Weird… I'm pretty worried about Yugo, though. I hope she's okay…_ Seizing the moment to take a quick look around, she scanned the room's contents for anything of value. It was another bathroom, different from the first, with a bathtub in the far corner and a pair of mirrors hanging over a vanity with two sinks. Tan tiles lined the floors. A typical bathroom, one might say. Beside the bathtub lay a small plastic bag with the top of a glass bottle sticking out of the top. "Oh, there they are," she muttered, bending over to retrieve her lost treasures and spying something glint under the tub. Of course, it was another key, this one tinted a silvery-gray, with an inscription that read **BDRM**. She sighed inwardly. _Here we go again._

-x-

_After that, she purchased more Onigiris and Beer from the toilet and fully restored her HP and MP._

**[2]**

-x-

Remember how I said Andorra recently started hating stairs? Well, she ended up hating stairs even more after having to walk up them with half of her body now bruised and carrying a heavy pickaxe that just wouldn't go back to the oblivion that she had snatched it from.

After that dreaded trip up the stairs, Andorra had put down her pick in the nearest doorway (_No wonder no one ever uses these anymore!_) before checking the doors on the second floor. She knew that at least two were already locked – Malta's room and the room beside it – and the one other room in that area didn't match the key, so that ruled out that relative area. _That leaves about…three other rooms on this floor, I think._ With that in mind, she headed for the next nearest door, one to the right of the central corridor, and jammed the key into the lock. It actually seemed to work this time, surprisingly, so she stepped inside and locked the door behind her. _Just in case._

It was a bedroom. No surprise there, considering that was what it said on the key. Two beds were pushed into the corner with a little space between them, and a set of bookshelves sat on the wall parallel to them. A large table dominated half of the room, equaling the size of a conference table, with only two chairs pushed up to it, side by side. It could have been the sleeping quarters of two friends or twin siblings, although as to which one, she wasn't sure.

"Hello? Anyone home?" She didn't think that there would be anyone still within the room, but it didn't hurt to check. "If you are, speak up now…" She glared at the beds, the floor beneath them hidden by their sheets and comforters. There could be someone there… Or something… Stalking closer to the beds, she got down on her hands and knees before ripping away the fabric obscuring her vision.

Nothing.  
She tried the same trick on the other bed and on the table too, but her searches proved to be fruitless – aside from finding a few (possibly edible) mushrooms growing up from a rotted piece of wood. "Well, that's just great. And we still have a missing nation on our hands…" Sitting on the edge of the table, she started nibbling on a rice ball to force her hunger aside. "I mean, sure, Yugo can't be very far, but she's not a fighter. I'm not sure if she could take on that Thing all by –" She paused mid-sentence as a chill flew down her spine, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as if detecting potential danger all on their own.

_Is that the sound of something…getting closer?_

Silencing herself and putting down her sushi, she focused on the faint whispers of sounds from outside the door. They seemed like nothing at first, then gained the recognition of light footsteps, bare feet against wooden floors. That uncomfortable ringing in her ears was back and annoying as ever, veiling any other subtle hints of a person or Thing standing just outside the –

_Clack… Clack clack…_

The door handle was being grabbed from the outside, and shook wildly in the person's/Thing's attempts to open it. Luckily for Andorra, she had locked the door before, so there was no way for them to get inside. She abandoned her sushi and reached back for her pickaxe…only to remember that she left it in the hall outside. _Seriously?!_ The option of self-defense now crossed off the list, there was only one thing to do, and that was wait.

The _clack_ing went on for quite some time, probably several minutes, before silencing. With the ringing in her ears, she couldn't tell whether or not there were footsteps leading away from her hiding place. This new dead air that swept through the room was tense, streaked with uncertainty and a dash of fear.

…_Is it gone?_

**A/N: WHY DO I FEEL LIKE SUCH A FAIL. This definitely isn't my best work…or is it? I don't even know anymore. I feel so confused… *headdesk***

**[1] (Catalan) Taste my iron, freak!**

**[2] Because I had to. :p**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm sorry for the totally-uncalled-for cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter. I just couldn't think of a good place to leave off. :)  
I totally have more Italian and Canadian views than I do from the UK. I find that hilarious. You guys rock, Italians/Canadians! (But the rest of you rock too!)**

**Chapter Five**

…_Is it gone?_

Silence riddled the abandoned bedroom that currently hosted Andorra and her hiding place. Its tenant had come to recognize the different kinds of silences that the mansion had to offer – eerie, awkward, calming, emotionless – and had decided that this type of silence fit into the "eerie" category, the largest category so far. However, her question still remained, hanging in the air, the exact answer impossible to come across.

_Well, let's say it is._ She picked herself up from her hiding place crouched under the table and straightened her back, staring intently at the one slice of wood that previously separated her from whatever had been outside just moments ago. _It wanted to find me, but it couldn't get in, so it left…maybe to find someone else. But Malta's behind that iron door, so it has to be Yugo…_ She shook her head nervously. _I have to go find her, and fast. We all have to get out of here as soon as possible!_

She turned the key in the lock and pushed the door aside, revealing a thankfully empty hallway stretching out to her right. Everything around her seemed normal. And yet the ringing in her ears just wouldn't stop. She had come to realize that it was a bad sign no matter what the circumstances. _Oh well. I'll just get my pick and get back to –_

_CRASH_. Wood splintered in her face as gray filled her vision, invisible claws slicing at her cheeks without so much as a simple _I'm sorry_. By now, she didn't even have to look up to know what had just happened. "Do you ever get tired of ambushing people?" she hissed in the direction that the wood had come, wiping the shards from her face and glaring at her newfound worst enemy: _Señor_Thing. The Thing didn't even bother staring back at her before giving off a mighty roar, a sickening sound that clawed at her eardrums and forced her to wince in pain and fear.

_Apparently not,_ she muttered to herself, spreading her feet to steady herself after the sudden attack. _The more I look at it, the scarier it looks! Oh well, I'll just have to get my pick and… _In the time it took her to come to this realization, she was able to dodge two potential assaults from the Thing's claws and talk a little trash to it, saying a few words she didn't even realize she knew. When the metaphorical light bulb over her head finally flickered on, she facepalmed. _…It's over there, isn't it?_

As if to answer her question, the Thing let off another gravelly hiss, followed by the only complete sentence it seemed to know. _"YoU… WOn't… ESc…aPe…"_

"Shut it! You're in my way!" In a fit of anger, she grabbed the first thing she could find – which happened to be one of the stools previously pushed up to the large table in the room behind her – and flung it at the Thing with all her might, the wood shattering into a million pieces over its face. It roared again, pawing at its eyes as if to rid itself of the splinters blocking its vision. _Now's my chance!_ Faster than she's ever run before, she darted away from the Thing, listening to its footsteps pound against the floor behind her. She flew down the stairs and around the corner; after a while, she no longer knew where she was going. All that she knew was it was after her, and that when its anguished cries faded to nothing, it was gone.

-x-

_Well I'm back to where I started…_ Andorra sighed loudly, the sound faintly echoing in the abandoned halls of the mansion. She gently touched her face as she walked, feeling the sticky residue of stagnant blood slowly welling up from her cheek. _I didn't even find Yugo, and I managed to get beat up pretty good in the process…_ She sharply turned the corner and breezed into the room where Malta was last seen, glaring at the iron door as if it was the source of her problems instead of that wretched monster-alien-Thing. "Hey, Malta!" She didn't even try to keep the contempt for the world out of her voice. "I'm back! I've got food!"

"Andorra? You sound kinda funny. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She dug around in her plastic bag of goodies and tried to find the potentially safe mushrooms she had stowed away earlier. "I've got bad news, though. I couldn't find Yugo, and that mochi's still stuck in that wall up there…"

A groan was heard from the other side of the door, followed by the cheerful – albeit annoyed – voice of Malta. "Yeah, okay. I'm done here, so we can go now."

The iron door suddenly turned on its hidden hinges, swinging open just inches from Andorra's face. Flinching backwards slightly, she watched as the short(ish) form of her friend stepped out into the light and shut the door behind her with a loud clang. At the moment, she was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, her off-white jacket tied around her waist as if too keep it out of her way. Her hair was a little messy, and a slight sheen of sweat showed on her brow, but besides that she seemed just like the usual Malta, complete with her confident smile and her never-say-die attitude. Her meat cleaver hung at her waist, the strap wound around a belt loop in her jeans. The nervous version of her that showed in the foyer not long ago was completely gone now.

"Say," she started, taking a few steps farther away from the door, "mind if we come back here once in a while?"

Andorra shrugged indifferently. "Sure, I don't mind. …Do you actually like narrow spaces?"

"Well, you could say that I'm…used to them by now. There's a lot of room, though…" Malta trailed off slightly, her eyes focused on some distant thought. In a moment, they returned and met her friend's gaze. "But hey, we have to help that mochi, right?"

Andorra was brought back to reality with the sudden comment. "Oh, yeah. C'mon, I'll show you."

As they set off for their new mission, a single thought passed through both of their minds. _I hope Yugo's okay…_

-x-

"Well?"

"This is a…mochi?"

"Apparently."

A lot of standing and staring had occurred in those first few minutes in the attic, most of which being caused by a very confused Malta. She had placed her knife and jacket on the table on the other side of the room and had taken up a place in front of the previous residence of the bookshelf to get a good look at the creature stuck in the wall. The mochi, having been surprised by the sudden new face, had started to hide itself from her, but quickly got over its fear and watched her with as much interest as she did to it. "…Mochi."

"Uh huh." Rather than being right next to her friend, Andorra opted to standing near the doorway, paranoia centered on the Thing still wrapped around her. "It's a mochi. We've established that. Can you get it out?"

Malta returned her gaze to the mochi once again, tilting her head to one side to get a better angle of it. "Well, it's stuck pretty deep… I'm not…sure…" She grabbed hold of the mochi's sides and started pulling, digging her feet into the floor and feeling the creature's body stretch slightly with the abuse. The mochi, wanting to help somehow, ignored the pain and wriggled around in attempt to loosen itself, but both tries ended in failure. "S-Sorry," Malta stammered, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, "I can't do it with my bare hands. If we had some kind of tool I might be able to… I dunno."

"It's a big house though. I'll take a quick look around." Andorra threw the mochi an _I'm sorry_ look before turning her back partially to the creature and staring at the door. "I'll be back. I'll tell you if I find anything useful."

"Awesome." Malta chuckled nervously as she added, "Just don't die, okay? …If you did, I'd have no one to –"

Andorra rolled her eyes and held up a hand to interrupt the rambling nation. "Dude, you're being depressing. Quit it. I'll be back as soon as I find something, so don't worry."

"Will do. I'll stay here with the mochi. He looks a little lonely." Malta plopped down on the floor beside the mochi and scratched under its chin – or what she assumed was its chin – earning herself a pleased-sounding "Mokyuu~" in return.

Andorra chuckled lightly. "You miss your dog, don't ya?"

"Who, Ylainia? I… Yes."

"Yeah, it feels like we've been here for a while, huh? Eh, we'll survive. I'm heading out."

And so she did.

-x-

She suddenly had a lot of reasons to hate her life. At least, her life in the past five or so minutes. When Andorra had left Malta in the attic, she decided to take a look at the one other door on the fourth floor, the one door that she just completely passed over for no good reason at all. And of course, it wasn't locked. _Just my luck._

At first glance, there was no reason for it to be locked. Through the threshold was yet another bedroom, identical to all of the others except for a few differing furnishings. A tiny scrap of paper, barely the size of her palm, was sticking out from between the cushions of an upholstered chair, its exposed edge ripped carelessly from its missing half. She picked it up on a whim and continued her search of the room. There was nothing else of interest, except for a strange panel embedded into the wall. The panel consisted of a lever with three notches, and a sign tacked up beside it:

**UP IS HEAVEN**

**MIDDLE IS EARTH**

**DOWN IS HELL**

"Huh." Andorra stared at the lever for a minute, as if it held the secret of decoding the obscure riddle posted beside it. The lever was currently in the middle slot, so she grabbed hold of the end. "Well, this place is pretty much a hell, with that Thing following us…" Biting her lip in anticipation, she pulled down on the lever, waiting for whatever dreadful booby trap to come out and kill her to death one way or another. Sure enough, she heard the clack of something moving behind her, so she closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

But it never came.

"What?" For a second she was happy about being alive, but then her elation faded into sheer confusion. _If it wasn't a trap, what was that noise?_ A quick turning around revealed that the beds, which had previously been pushed together, were separated, and that an empty expanse of black nothingness was the only thing between them. "Oh. So _that's_ what happened. Heh, it's just like in the movies." She stepped forward to examine the hole. There was nothing exciting about the hole itself, but past it was another room, and an unfamiliar one at that. It was pure white – the room, not the hole. There was white everywhere, from the floors to the walls to every single book lining what few shelves there were. "Whoa…"

Utilizing another awesome move gained from watching Chinese action movies (and the inevitable "ninja" sound effect), she was able to expertly leap down to the floor of the white room with nothing more than a scraped knee and two aching wrists. Over all, a success. Even from a different angle, the room was pretty much the same, its white blankness enveloping everything in sight. It could have been located inside a futuristic house or an extremely clean mental institution, if it had not been for the piano.

The instrument itself was as black as a moonless night and expertly polished, so much that Andorra could see her own face reflected in its ebony sheen. It was a beautiful grand piano, branded with _Steingraeber & Söhne_ in gold letters above the keyboard. Every key was either ivory white or coal black, effectively matching and contrasting the main body of the instrument. A layer of amber wood glowed from within the piano, partially hidden by the massive black lid, adding only a small splash of color to the otherwise monotone picture.

Of course, Andorra didn't give that much thought to the piano. One of the few thoughts that passed through her mind was, "Oh, that's a nice piano. I wonder if it still works." And so she proceeded to seat herself at the matching piano bench, which had previously been pushed up to the instrument, and gently placed her fingers on the keys. She usually didn't play the piano, but she remembered learning, so she wasn't that bad. _Yugo's probably better though… _Ignoring the thought, she began to press down on the keys, her fingers tensed for the beginning of an intense melody.

_The fear. The pain. The darkness. It's all-powerful, all-consuming… What did I do? What mistake did I make this time? Why did it have to be now? We were so close… So close to –_

She froze, staring blankly at the gold _Steingraeber & Söhne_ staring back at her. _That voice…_ It almost sounded like her own, but something was definitely different. Something wasn't right about it. There was some strong emotion in it that she'd never heard from herself before, and that in itself was a bad sign. _Where did that come from? Was it…the piano? _She scrambled to her feet and backed away from the piano, nearly tripping over the piano bench in the process. "What the heck was that? …Well, it's not off-tune, even though it's probably been here for years. It's cleaned up pretty well too." Glancing nervously to the side, she spotted a door in the shadows to her right, also painted white. "I should probably go…" Translation: Get me away from that demonic piano! She wasted no time in yanking it open and slamming it back into place, emerging into the main corridor of the third floor.

"Hey, I've been here before. But I didn't open any of the doors…" Andorra pondered this to get her mind off the grotesque visions of red splattering the pristine white floor of the piano room. "Maybe there's something in the other rooms too." Without another thought, she strode past the stairs descending to the second floor and approached Door Number One. She heaved a long sigh, muttering a quick "good luck" to herself before sauntering into the darkness.

-x-

_No matter what, I always made a mistake. No matter what, we always lost someone. Even in this room. Who was it last? …Ah yes, it was Japan, land of the rising sun. That hurt me so much – it hurt all of us, especially China and the other former Axis Powers. But even though I had watched him die over and over for such a long time, even though I had watched _everyone_ die, I did not feel the inevitable guilt that swarmed me after I lost someone. That one time, I felt relieved, because even though he died under such harsh and painful circumstances, I was finally able to help him die in peace. The others, though…that is a very different story._

_One that I am going to make sure is never known to anyone but me._

**A/N: Longest chapter of this fic yet. That's probably because I actually wrote the fight scene last, but whatever. (It wasn't even a fight, just Andorra getting chased by the Thing… But like I said, whatever.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Before today, Andorra had never given much thought to the varying hues of darkness. Sure, there was dark and light, but there was so much more than that as well. Like the rooms she had just passed through, for example. The bathroom where she had fought the Thing contained the thickest darkness she had ever seen, which combined with the general creepiness that seemed to emanate from the Thing made it to be one of the scariest places she's ever been – and that's saying something. On the other hand, the darkness that swallowed the piano room was little more than a light shadow, a thin drizzle of darkness which could still be seen through if one was prepared for it. This new room was only a little lower on the darkness scale than the piano room, but there was still something wrong about it, something she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

It was a library. Unlike the one downstairs, which contained probably a few hundred books packed onto a few shelves, this one was lined with them, the only available walking space being the thin aisles that ran parallel to one another around the shelves. There were probably a million books in that room at that exact time, even with a few shelves featuring gaping holes where a few large volumes should have been. The calming earthy color palette was back, a pleasant change from the intense white of the piano room. As she slowly walked down one aisle, she examined the titles of the books she passed. Many of them were focused on history; she almost smiled when she saw her name on the spine of a book titled _Andorra, the Hidden Republic_.

_Focus,_ she scolded herself, striding out to the central corridor once again and glaring menacingly at the first shelf she laid her eyes on. _If you don't find Yugo, then you're not going to get out of here. If the Three Musketeers lost one of their men inside of a haunted house and fled on their own, then they wouldn't be Three anymore…right?_

There was a sound – several sounds, actually. The first was the shuffle of feet against wood somewhere in the far corner of the room, followed by the nearly-inaudible _click_ of metal against metal. The sounds reverberated off the walls of the room until the only thing left was the faint whisper of breathing from the frightened Andorra. She wasn't given time to reach back for her pickaxe before a pair of blue-green eyes stared out at her from around the shelf farthest from her, first glinting with stony determination, then fading to confusion and finally relief.

"A-Andorra!"

Despite already seeing the person hiding behind the shelf, Andorra nearly jumped out of her skin when her name was called. "…Yugo? You're okay! Sheesh, you sure know how to hide yourself!"

"Er, th-thank you…" Yugoslavia stepped out from around the shelf and smiled faintly at her friend, stuffing something into her pocket as she went. She looked just the same as she did when she entered the mansion: white dress shirt, green military pants (that she wasn't quite sure why she had chosen in the morning), and her black jacket thrown over her shoulders. She definitely wasn't hurt, and that in itself was a good sign. "Th-There was a monster! I saw it, and Malta did too! A...a stark naked giant the color of a rotten scone!"

"...Yeah, you've been spending too much time with England lately."

"A-anyway," Yugoslavia continued, now fully composed from her outburst, "it appeared from the hallway and came after us. Malta had instantly screamed. You…heard her, right?"

Andorra's previously focused expression morphed to one of concern and confusion. "Actually, no…" _Blackmail_, she began to think, but shoved the thought away.

"…Oh. Well, she surprised me too, and I was too confused at the time. I suppose I tried to run away and leave you two behind…" Yugoslavia lowered her gaze to the ground, wringing her hands nervously. "I-I am sorry, Andorra… But," she added as her friend gave her a sympathetic pat on the back, "the front door would not open no matter what, and we split up while running away…"

"No need to apologize," Andorra consoled, putting on a grin to cheer up the guilt-stricken nation. "Anyone would've done the same in a situation like that." _I know Malta did._ "Even me."

Yugoslavia took a deep breath and slowly let it out, composing herself enough to start speaking again. "Still, there is something very wrong about this house. The door and the windows are all locked from the outside, and I did not get a signal on my cell phone when I tried. We are all just locked up here…" She glanced upward, finally meeting Andorra's eyes, and frowned when she caught sight of the reddened slice through her cheek. "Is that blood? Are you hurt? I have a few bandages with me, if you need them…"

"Nah, I'm fine. It's just a cut." _Why would she have bandages with her?_

"Well, you look tired. Stay right there." Yugoslavia turned on her heel and disappeared down the aisle from which she came, appearing a moment later with her duffle bag over her shoulder. She dug around in it for a moment before pulling out something wrapped in a paper-like material, holding it out to her friend. "Take it."

Andorra stared at the small brown-colored bag in Yugoslavia's palm, unable to find words to respond to the random statement. It was a bag of M&M's, fun-sized for easy transport. "…You still have my candy."

"Just in case," Yugoslavia replied with a simple shrug. She handed Andorra the bag, knowing that whether she wanted them now or not, she would definitely end up eating them later.

The Andorran gave in to the chocolaty temptation and ripped the top from the bag, popping a green-colored drop in her mouth. "You're really calm about all of this, Yugo. You were even wandering around the house. That seems a little unlike you, if you ask me."

Yugoslavia's gaze wandered the room, seeming to fall everywhere but her friend's eyes. "…I will be honest with you. When that monster appeared, I wanted to cry out for help, but Malta was already falling apart, and you were gone at the time. So I figured that someone needed to keep a level head, and even I was surprised by how calm I felt! …And then I began to look for the two of you so we could get out of here as soon as possible, but I had not seen either of you before just now!"

_Something is not right._

"That makes sense," Andorra reasoned with herself. "I was pretty freaked out too, but after seeing Malta so flustered –" She ignored the confused look that the Yugoslav threw her. "–I felt really calm too."

"Speaking of Malta, where is she? Have you found her already?"

_Something is not right about her._

"Yeah, I found her. She's on the fourth floor right now, but I'll explain the details on the way." Andorra threw a blue-tinted M&M into the air and caught it in her mouth, grinning widely at her small achievement. "We were both really worried about you," she added as she tossed a red candy to Yugoslavia. "We should probably get back up there and let her see you A-S-A-P."

_She seems different…_

Shifting slightly on her feet, Yugoslavia nodded in agreement and gave a short, dry laugh. "Yes, that is probably a good idea. I found a few things while I was exploring, so I will bring those along. Maybe they will end up being useful! …I am keeping your candy though." Her last comment was almost too quiet to hear, but by some stroke of luck Andorra heard it anyway.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Andorra snapped, clamping a hand on the Balkan nation's shoulder to keep her from going anywhere, "slow down. You're _keeping_ it? _All_ of it?"

"Well you do not need it all at once, do you? Your being hyper would not help our situation."

_A change in her emotions, maybe…_

Unable to find words to fight back with, Andorra let herself lose the argument, truly looking at her friend for only the second time since they ran into each other. Of course, she was wearing her military uniform, with the olive jacket replaced with her more comfortable black one, and she had that bag dangling from her shoulder, but that was all she cared to notice before. Yugoslavia's complexion, normally pale-ish tan in color, was few shades whiter, likely from the fear of the Thing previously chasing her. She had been holding something metal, and had put it away before her friend could see it, but a slight bulge in her pocket suggested a roughly cylindrical object about three inches long. In addition, she was holding her journal in a death grip in one hand, her fingers digging into the aged brown leather cover, her white knuckles one of the few indicators of the actual shock she still possessed.

"Come on," Andorra murmured, dumping the rest of the chocolates in her mouth before shoving the now-empty bag in her pocket, "let's go. This place gives me the creeps."

_No, not just emotions… How she carries herself…_

Yugoslavia tilted her head to one side, her bright blue-green eyes tinted with confusion. She didn't bother saying a word, but the question itself was in her eyes.

"…Let's just get back to Malta."

The two female nations plodded toward the door closest to them, Andorra first and Yugoslavia following steadily behind. When she thought she wasn't looking, Yugoslavia let her mostly-empty hand fall limp at her side, the tiny object occupying it falling with an inaudible _click_ to the ground. The object rolled away from her and settled itself in a distant corner, effectively hiding itself from the views of the fleeing girls.

It was a single blood-red chocolate, abandoned, untouched.

-x-

_I hate lying to her. …No, I hate lying to all of them. But if I told the truth, who knows what would happen. Who knows what chaos would be inflicted on them this time around. Maybe I can change it. Maybe this time, I can keep anything from happening, and we can all finally get out of this place. Oh, if only. It seems so long since I have thought about escape, freedom, or finally living for tomorrow once again. Hopefully my chance to breathe the air of the Earth and look forward to another day will come soon. For now, I have to wait. I have to retain my mask and lock away all doubts and fears. Fear is something that I no longer allow myself to keep. It has too many risks, and causes too many chances. It gets in the way of the important things, like staying away from danger and keeping the others ignorant of my struggles. It is a lot of responsibility, but I have to live with it…whether I like it or not._

-x-

Only a minute passed during the nations' climb up the single flight of stairs, and yet it was somehow long enough for Andorra to explain the most confusing information to her newfound friend. There wasn't much to say, really. Besides the discovery of Malta (and the magical sushi toilet) and what little she knew about the Thing, there wasn't really that much to say.

"That must have been tiring," Yugoslavia was saying as the two rounded the bend and headed for the attic where they had last left Malta, earning a slightly confused look from the Andorran. "The battles, I mean. It is amazing how you were able to fight it off so many times and now get very hurt. I would…" She trailed off, not willing to finish her sentence, but it was obvious what she was going to say next. _I would not have been able to do the same._

Andorra waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, it was nothing. It's just really…big. Big and scary-looking." She reached for the doorknob of the attic entrance and turned it clockwise before flinging it aside. "It's not so bad, once you get past the –"

Two sets of jaws dropped when they came upon the scene before them.

**A/N: *insert trolling here* I was gonna make this chapter longer, but it got too long, sooo…yeah. :)  
Y'know what's funny? I was eating some M&Ms yesterday, and for some reason I kept avoiding the red ones. I finally realized that until the only ones I had left were red. :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER. Sorry for the wait, I just hate fight scenes. And I've been too busy writing death scenes for later on in the fic. It may sound bad, but they're so fun to write. :D**

**Chapter Seven**

"Speak of the devil…" Yugoslavia whispered, feeling herself start to tremble slightly in surprise.

For once, the statement could actually be taken literally. The middle of the attic floor was currently occupied by a vicious brawl between the Thing and Malta, who was swinging her meat cleaver at its face in attempt to keep it away from her. The action only seemed to anger the Thing, though, as it constantly raked its claws through the air in front of her.

"Andorra! The Thing! Th-that is the Thing!"

The sudden exclamation from the frightened ex-nation caused Malta to look up from her grappling match, swiping at the Thing's arm and using that nanosecond of time to roll out from under it. "Yugo! You're okay! Welcome to the party," she added under her breath as the Thing launched another assault on her, successfully slicing a thin gash in her arm. "You two, just run!"

Andorra flinched at the unnaturally serious tone woven through Malta's words, putting a hand on Yugoslavia's shoulder in attempt to somehow comfort her friend, even just a little. "Are you crazy?!"

"I'll take care of this! Just go, quickly!"

Yugoslavia glanced at Andorra when she noticed that she had gone silent. There was suddenly a distant look in her eyes, as if she was staring out at some unknown point past the battle in progress mere feet from where she stood. After a long, drawn-out moment, she returned to reality. "Oh, I should get my ears checked. I didn't hear a word!"

"Huh?! Hey, Yugo!1"

In her attentiveness toward Andorra's expression, Yugoslavia actually didn't hear Malta's order either. "Oh, um… I suddenly got deaf, too!"

"Yugo! You –!"

"Y'know what's funny?" All eyes – including those of the Thing, who had momentarily stopped its rampage – turned to Andorra, who hefted her pickaxe into her hands and started swinging it experimentally. "We've all been in peace for a while now. Maybe a little fighting could do us good."

Malta's eyes softened slightly, just before the Thing decided to attempt another attack. "Malta… Yugo…"

Andorra smirked dangerously at the Thing, gripping the wooden shaft of her pick tighter in her right hand. "C'mon, you can't get rid of us that easily, right Yugo?"

Yugoslavia stuffed her hand into her pocket, pulling out the object that she had stuffed in there minutes ago – a six-inch stiletto switchblade knife, Italian-made with a handle of blackened wood. She flicked her wrist, the now-exposed blade glinting silver in the faint light. "Th-that Thing has no right to push us around!"

_She has a _switchblade_? When did she get a flipping _switchblade_?!_ "Awesome!" Malta gritted her teeth and returned her focus to the furious Thing as she felt the presence of her two friends on either side of her. "It keeps fighting, even though it's still wounded!"

_Wounded_ could have been an understatement. She had managed to beat it up pretty good with only determination and a meat cleaver. The collection of wounds on the Thing's body featured a long, deep slash across its face, which was spilling blood with every passing moment, along with several other bad scrapes. Spots of red dotted the floor, a sickly metallic scent wafting through the air surrounding it.

Andorra flinched back, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp edges of the Thing's claws meeting the flesh of her shoulder. "Good to know!" As it attempted another attack on her, she lifted her pick and met its outstretched limbs halfway, straining to hold it back for at least a short time.

The Thing snarled and pushed itself away from the restriction forced upon it by the Andorran, its eyes slicing at the very souls of the nations before it. A red aura blazed up around it, slowly increasing in intensity until it filled the whole room with the crimson blaze. With a mighty roar the aura separated from its body, an invisible force propelling it toward its opponents. It crashed into the fighting nations and threw them back against the wall, spurts of blood welling up here and there from the collision. Yugoslavia was the only one unhurt; she had been standing back from the action, but was not the only one still standing. The Thing glared at her, waiting for her to make the one move that could change everything for better or for worse.

Yugoslavia, surprisingly, was not frozen with fear, as she expected herself to be. The Thing had hurt her friends enough, and even though it may have only been trying to defend its home within the mansion, it still deserved to pay.

"_YoU… WOn't… Esc –"_

Its sentence was cut off when something rectangular and heavy slammed into its eyes.

As the Thing staggered backward, trying to assess the damage done to its eyes, Yugoslavia grabbed the object and tossed it behind her once again. It was a large dictionary, a rather old version containing a plethora of words and phrases in the Catalan language. The book had provided a brief distraction, but it proved to be nearly worthless as the Thing hissed again, no new wounds except for a few paper cuts across its eyelids. And the worst part: now it was angry. She tightened her grip on her knife, just waiting for its claws to find their way to her flesh…

"Hey, stay away from Yugo!"

Both Yugoslavia and the Thing spun around at the sudden exclamation, and were rewarded with a view of Malta forcing herself to her feet and swinging her meat cleaver experimentally with one hand. "You should've gone for me instead," she advised before half-throwing her knife at the Thing first horizontally, then vertically. "_Maltese Cross_!" The attack did a surprising amount of damage, considering how many times she tried to use it before. This time, it seemed to almost split the Thing in half.

The Thing staggered backward, letting out a string of snarls that in any other language could have equaled to Romano-style cussing. Andorra cut it off when she hefted her pickaxe over her shoulder and sunk the sharp end directly between the Thing's eyes. It dropped like a hot rock, flinching slightly before falling still and fading into the thick air around them.

Andorra stared down at the open ground beneath them, where the hulking gray Thing had been just moments ago. Her breaths were a little unsteady, her lungs trying to regain the oxygen they had lost in the fight. "It's gone…"

Giving a nod in response, Yugoslavia spared a glance down at the floor beneath her feet. Not only was the Thing gone, but all of the blood it left behind had disappeared as well, leaving the wooden surface completely clean. "It r-really _is_ a ghost…" Her eyes snapped upward and landed on Malta, who was leaning heavily against the wall to Andorra's right with her knife resting at her feet. "Malta!" She rushed over to her friend and gave her a hug, pushing the hair away from the source of a few rivulets of blood that streamed down her face. "You were hurt!"

Malta pushed herself up from the wall, her legs a little unsteady beneath her, and wiped the redness from her face with the back of her hand – sort of. "Nah, I'm fine! But you guys… You totally ignored what I said! Why didn't you run, like I told you to? …Yugo! Where'd you get a flipping _switchblade_?!"

"Hey, be easy on her," Andorra chided, taking up a place beside Yugoslavia and casually rested her elbow on the ex-nation's shoulder. "Besides, did you really think that you could do something about it alone?"

"…Sorry," Malta murmured, not used to apologizing but saying it anyway. "You guys really helped. Are you okay, too?"

Yugoslavia nodded. "I am. But you are not! Here, sit down, and I will –"

"I said I'm fine! I didn't even black out or anything!"  
And then Malta blacked out.

Andorra chuckled to herself, leaning against her pick and watching as Yugoslavia carefully wrapped Malta's head with a spare bandage. "I don't know about you, but I feel so relieved now that the Thing is out of the way, at least for now."

"Yes, I am too." Yugoslavia took the sleeve of her jacket and gingerly dabbed at the blood on her friend's face. "We both ran really fast, so I had been wondering what happened to her – both of you, actually."

"Yeah. I'm glad we're all okay. …But now what?"

Malta stirred, the corner of her mouth twitching when Yugoslavia touched her face. "Wha…? Oh. Hey, I'm back."

"Good to see you too," Yugoslavia murmured sarcastically, barely loud enough to be heard.

"We need to do something," Andorra continued, not bothering to fill Malta in on their brief conversation. "The Thing could show up here again, so we should move to a room that's as safe as possible. Besides, if the three of us stick together, it won't be so scary."

"Well alrightie then!" Malta stood, momentarily losing her balance, but steadied herself on the wall behind her before speaking again. "Let's go look for that safe room! And let's not split up, of course. No more going alone!"

Yugoslavia followed suit, stuffing the remaining bandages into the pocket of her jacket and grabbing for her bag against the wall. "That is a good idea to me."

The three pocketed their weapons and filed out of the room, each taking one last look at the former battlefield before shutting the door and sealing it way for who knows how long.

-x-

The new room was, to say it one way, big. Everything in the room seemed bigger than it normally would have been, from the fireplace in the wall in front of the door to the conference table occupying the majority of the floor space to the bookshelves lining the wall around the fireplace. Even the beds – the two of which pushed into a different corner from the shelves – seemed larger than usual, for some unknown reason. This fact was ignored, however, in favor of the conversation currently going on in the center of the room.

"We can't get too careless," Malta was saying, helping herself to one of the chairs pushed up to the table, "but I think we're safe here – for now, anyway. We have the key, and the door's locked from the inside."

Andorra crossed her arms. From her place standing at the far end of the conference table, she could see her friends clearly, even through the thin veil of darkness. "It's only temporary, but it should be fine for just one night…"

Yugoslavia's voice emanated from her form seated with her back to the bookshelves, her knees pulled up close to her chest. "One night is good enough for me. I am starting to get tired of running around."

_We did run a lot today,_ Andorra considered, subconsciously rubbing her arms. For some reason, she got a sudden craving for vodka.

"Are you cold too, Andorra?" Yugoslavia reached out an arm and snatched up her bag from the floor near her, rummaging through its contents. "I wonder if it is because of this house… I found some matches earlier, and there is already a little firewood in the fireplace. I can light a fire, if you want…"

"I got it," Malta stated, snatching the matchbox from her friend's grasp and kneeling in front of the fireplace. Within moments, bright orange flames leaped up from the exposed wood, casting amber rays over everything in sight.

"That's better," Andorra sighed as Malta returned to her chair. "I feel warmer already! The light kinda helps too. At least I can see now."

Yugoslavia leaned back against the bookshelf once again, staring off into a distant corner of the ceiling with an unfocused gaze. "I-it was a little scary at first, though. Even though Malta started to run first, it was me that that Thing chased after."

Letting off a little nervous laugh, Malta leaned back nonchalantly in her chair. "Yeah. I remember looking back once and thinking, 'Not Yugo!' And then both she and the Thing disappeared… And you were already gone." She threw a look at Andorra before continuing her rant. "Geez, I hate supernatural things. B-besides… It's not like I just ran and hid, or anything like that… Never mind!" Her usual happy-go-lucky self was back. "As long as we're okay, it doesn't matter!"

Andorra nodded slightly, trying to hide the knowing smile that threatened to spread across her face. "Yeah, exactly. Besides, we should think about what we're gonna do next instead of dwelling on the past."

"…Well, I searched the house for a way out, but everything is locked. So," Yugoslavia proposed quietly, her voice hinting to a wandering focus, "we can only assume that it has made us prisoners here." She sighed softly. "I wish we could go home. This is all very confusing…"

Was it just Malta's imagination, or was that a hint of resignation that dripped into her friend's comment? "Yeah, me too. …Hey, we keep talking about finding a way out. If all of the exits are locked, why don't we make one ourselves? All we need's a little time and that pick of yours, Andorra…"

Yugoslavia finally broke her eyes away from the nothingness she had been so interested in and sent Andorra a confused look. "Where did you get it, anyway?"

"Oh, it's from Russia. He let me bo–"

"No," Yugoslavia persisted, "just now. You pulled it out of thin air. …Where did you get it just now?"

Andorra blinked once, as if the answer was completely obvious. "Hammerspace."

Before any more awkward silences could creep in between them, Malta countered, "What about you, Yugo? You have that bag, and the switchblade. I'be never seen you with a knife like that."

"…Oh." Yugoslavia glanced at the flickering flames to her right, effectively hiding her face from her companions. "…Well, I am supposed to catch a flight with Italy in the morning – there were no direct flights from Andorra to Belgrade, so he said that I could tag along to Venice. I am afraid I will have to miss that flight, though…"

"But what about the – Ow!"

Andorra cut Malta off with a simple elbow to the ribs. "So! The plan is for us to make a way out of here tomorrow. For now, we should probably get a little sleep. I don't know what time it is, but we're all kinda tired."

Yugoslavia casually glanced down at the watch wrapped around her left wrist. Somehow, it had broken between the world summit and that moment, the hands lying still across the small clock's cold, lifeless face.

"Wait a minute," Andorra backtracked, reconsidering her last statement. "Wouldn't it be dangerous if we all sleep at the same time? I think one of us should stay up and keep watch. I'll do it."

Pushing herself up from off of the floor, Yugoslavia leaned gently against the table, a concerned expression across her face. "Are you sure, Andorra? You are the one who has been up and moving this whole time…" Her eyes glinted with persistence. "Let me. You need to rest too."

"I'll be fine, Yugo. Besides, you two were the ones who were freaked out the most. I just need to get off of my feet for a while." Andorra half-collapsed into a chair at the far end of the conference table, folding her arms behind her head. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll wake you up for the next shift, Yugo."

"O-okay…" Yugoslavia gazed forlornly down at her feet and silenced herself.

If they hadn't been in their current situation, and if the other two didn't know that Yugoslavia was so bent on helping people, they would have thought that the ex-nation was afraid of being asleep, as if her dreams held something far worse than the nightmare they were living.

If Yugoslavia had heard this mental comment, she would have brushed it off without another word. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

**A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't gotten out another chapter until just now. My family went on vacation this past week, so I didn't have any time to write. That, and I procrastinated on the fight scene because I hate them so much. And there was a lot of dialogue, but that's kinda normal. AND I had to edit this chapter about ten times before I finally liked how it sounded. (You should see the original – red marks EVERYWHERE.) Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this next installment of **_**Book of a Thousand Mistakes**_**, and hasta la pasta~!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I am currently half-obsessing over the artist on DeviantArt known as ~Vanilla-Fireflies. Why? I dunno. Her art is awesome, though. I kinda wish I could draw like that…**

**Chapter Eight**

Some amount of time passed – as far as Andorra was concerned, it equaled to about thirty minutes. Sitting at that conference table with only her pick to accompany her, watching her friends on the beds across the room as they lay sleeping – the two had had gone out like a light the moment they closed their eyes – she couldn't deny that she was bored. _And tired,_ she added mentally. _But it's worth it. They're getting sleep, so it's all good… Yugo really needs it. She's been acting like a completely different person today._ Stretching out her arms above her head, she let her eyes wander around her surroundings, watching the shadows dance across the firelit walls. "It's actually kinda fun being alone," she chuckled to herself. "But those two… They're really sound asleep. Heh, I bet they were real tired anyway. The three-hour walk, right after that boring meeting…"

She sniffled slightly, feeling a sudden change in the air around her. _I'm kinda cold… But the fire's strong enough. I bet it's nothing, just my imagina– _She suddenly froze, scrambling to a standing position and instinctively reaching back for her pickaxe. "What the heck? A chill just ran down my spine…" She turned slowly toward the door. If possible, the slice of wood was radiating an aura of danger just beyond its wall of safety… "S-stop it, Andorra. You're just…hearing things, right?"

_Clack._

She'd heard that sound before. That same _clack_ing sound was the sound of a shaking doorknob, the one sound she remembered before being attacked for the millionth time by that Thing. She felt herself begin to tremble slightly, and no matter what she did she couldn't seem to make herself stop. _No one's here,_ she said in a singsong voice inside her brain, her eyes never leaving the door in question. _Why aren't those two waking up, anyway? Can't they hear anything?!_

_Clack. Clack clack, clack…_

_Hey, maybe I can just pretend I'm not here! _Despite wanting to slap herself in the back of the head for the idiotic idea, she smiled faintly. _Yeah! If I turn off my aura, it won't notice me!_

_Clack clack clack. Clack – clack clack…_

She flinched. If anything, she only made it notice her more. Breathing a silent sigh, she gripped the wooden shaft of her pickaxe behind her. _…I guess I can't do it. I have no choice then…_ Treading softly across the hardwood flooring of the room, her shadow running across the path before her, she sent a final dismal glance at the two slumbering forms of her friends on the beds. _Forgive me, guys. It's tough being alone. …But at least I can take care of this for you._ Against her better judgment, she grasped the doorknob in her hand, flinging it behind her and pushing past the door in an instant. The door slammed shut behind her as fast as she possibly could close it, but it was not quick enough to mute her frightened cry.

"…Crap! No, I won't die yet!"

Silence sliced through the air. The only audible sound was the distant crackling of the fire in the fireplace, becoming more and more distant as the flames faded into darkness.

-x-

_You can not easily set foot into that "mysterious mansion" located deep in the heart of the Pyrenees Mountains._

_Because if you anger its former occupant, you will not get away lightly…_

…_Especially when there are no people there…_

-x-

Clouds swirled across the late afternoon sky in streaks of silver and white, trapping the sun behind their strokes. Even so, select rays of light streamed past the obstructions and scattered light across the earth, dappling the ground far below with spots of lighter and darker greens. The mountains still stood, undisturbed by the slight change of the weather above. And just as the mountains remained, the mansion remained, its wood-and-stone walls and red-tiled roof proudly standing above the craggy grass of the lawn surrounding it. In a brighter time, the lawn was probably very well manicured, with every bridge and bush in pristine condition. But that was in the past, for the grass had grown up and all but swallowed the bases of the untamed shrubs, and rotten wood plagued the bridges spanning the small, much-coated ponds dotted here and there. Even in its shambles, it was quite an impressive sight to the group of five explorers as they marched up the worn path and stood mere feet from the mansion's door.

"It's really here, aru!" China was the first to speak, brushing his jet-black ponytail back behind his shoulder.

England, standing to China's right, crossed his arms as he stared closely at the mansion before them. "I thought it was just a rumor…but it's really here!"

France casually rested an elbow on England's shoulder, managing only one sentence before receiving a firm punch in the gut from a certain tick-off Brit. "This desolate feel gives it a rather nice touch, _non_?"

"I don't think it's very interesting, though…" This new, quiet voice emanated from the strange floating bear hanging in the air behind America.

The American winced slightly in surprise, turning to the Russian standing in front of him. "Hey dude, did you hear a voice just now?"

"Oh Amerika, you tease," Russia chuckled. "We didn't hear anything, _da_?"

The air just above the floating near let off a sigh. For some reason, it had started to grow used to this kind of treatment.

"Still, it doesn't look like a very fun place," America commented, squinting at one of the windows as if he could really see something inside of it.

_Hypocrite_, said the minds of his companions.

Russia adjusted his scarf around his neck, throwing the hanging ends behind his shoulders and smiling warmly – at least, his definition of _warmly_. "Well, why don't we take a little look inside and then go back? I think we can leave before nightfall."

"Yeah," China agreed. "I don't want to stay here for long, either."

France, who had by now mostly recovered from the pain given to him via England's fist, took a few steps in front of the others to show that he wasn't scared of some old house. "Well then, shall we go in?"

A fear-stricken America pushed past France at the last moment – probably to show that he was the hero or that he wasn't scared (both of which would be lies) – and flung open the door before him, leading his fellow Allies (and the magical floating bear) into the mansion.

England was the last to enter. Despite the obvious creepiness factor that the mansion possessed, he could faintly tell that there was something wrong with it. There was a great chance that it really was haunted, as America had claimed. But that wasn't all; there was something wrong with what _wasn't_ inside. He couldn't sense anything, not his fairy friends, or even Flying Mint Bunny. That was the odd part. There was always someone near, no matter what the case…except for now. _That's odd. …Maybe they're just as scared as America._ He tried to tell himself that, but it just didn't seem to work. Defeated, he followed the others inside. He could have sworn that he heard rustling sounds in the woods behind them…

…just before the door slammed shut.

-x-

_We have been walking for hours now, trying to look for this place that America mentioned at the meeting. He said it was supposed to be obvious, once we get close to it. So far, no such luck._

…_How weird._

If one had heard the thought through the thick, towering trees of the Andorran forest, they would have discovered a party of four trodding through the thick undergrowth. They were anything but alike: two were serious and hard-faced, one was wandering around cluelessly, and the other was shouting at the top of his lungs about how awesome he was for this, that, and the other. To anyone else, it would have been extremely annoying. To these four, however, it was just normal.

One of the serious ones, a blonde-haired man with piercing ice-blue eyes, whapped the "awesome" one on the back of the head with a stick that he had been holding for no particular reason. "Quiet down, Prussia! Do you want the entire forest to hear you?"

The "awesome" former nation of Prussia let out a hearty seaman's laugh – or what could be described as one – and rested his elbow on the blonde German's shoulder. "Whatever, West! You know that everyone loves hearing from the awesomeness of me!"

"Ve~ Germany!" The scatterbrained Italian darted past two of his companions and grabbed the blonde German's arm, pointing excitedly at something just beyond the veil of trees. "I saw it! We're almost there~!"

The fourth and final party member, a quiet Asian man wearing a light blue kimono, listened intently, making sure to match his pace with that of the arguing German brothers. "Really? Where did you see it, Italy-kun?"

Italy glanced around a moment, trying to find his discovery once again, then took off through the forest with Germany still in tow. When he finally stopped a few moments later, he pointed again past the emerald leaves, where a wide expanse of scraggy grass gave way to a towering building of wood, brick, and stone.

Once he wrenched his arm from the brown-haired Italian's grasp, Germany stared up at the monstrosity of a house, his careful gaze picking out every detail in the walls and across the property. He noticed that all of the curtains within were drawn, but he could've sworn that the curtains in a window on the first floor just shifted slightly. "It's bigger than I thought!"

"Well, let's go then!" Prussia forced past the others and intended to push his way into the house as well, but paused when he heard the sudden, frightened voice of Italy.

"Ve~ But what if it's really haunted, like America said?"

"Don't worry 'bout that, Ita," Prussia reassured, holding his arm around Italy's shoulder and gesturing to the "awesome" sword hanging from his waist. He smile proudly at the younger nation as he continued, "It's not _really_ haunted. America's just stupid and unawesome enough to believe that. And if it is, I'll gladly kick those ghosts' unawesome butts for ya! How about that?"

Germany glared at his older brother until the albino ex-nation got the hint and put away his sword. "Still, we need to be careful. America and the others probably got here first. There's no doubt that thy would try to scare us on our way inside." He would never say it out loud, but the mansion was creeping him out. He wasn't quite sure why, but he didn't like the idea of being around anything haunted. He hated supernatural things.

"That's a good idea," Japan reasoned as he glanced across the lawn at the tall stone wall surrounding the property. "Shall we go in then?"

"Ve~ Okie dokie!" As the four started once again for the mansion, Italy couldn't help but hang back and take slower steps. Sure, it may have been partially his idea to come, but now he wasn't so sure. There was definitely something off about the mansion, although he couldn't seem to –

_Stop!_

Italy flinched, stopping dead in his tracks. Was that his own voice he had just heard? …_No, it can't be. That doesn't sound like me… I'm hearing things, that's all!_

_I won, right? You couldn't catch me; you lost!_

Now he was really scared. He couldn't deny that the voice did sound like him, but there was something wrong with it. It sounded…angry, angrier than it had ever been before.

_The moment I get out of here, you'll lose! There's nothing you can do from that distance! When I get out of here, this place won't be the same as before, you know! As a nation, I will –_

"Italy?"

"Ve?" Italy snapped out of his trance and realized that he was staring back at the gate, standing several feet behind his friends, most of who were already inside. The only one left outside was Germany, who had paused in the doorway to check up on the youngest of the group.

"Are you coming?" Germany asked gruffly, although his eyes showed confusion and slight worry.

Giving the gate behind him one last look, Italy put on a happy face and bounded after the others, not letting anyone know about the voice of himself that he had just heard. "_Sì, capitano!_"

But just because he didn't talk about it didn't mean he forgot about it.

**A/N: Yeah, a (slightly) shorter chapter to accommodate for the longer one. You're welcome. :D Also, in case you haven't noticed, I DON'T write accents here. It's too confusing for me, I'm sorry. Just imagine the accents. (By the way, that stick that Germany was holding is named Herr Stick II – phonetically, that's Herr Schtick the Second.)  
Heh heh, I love torturing you people with empty foreshadowing and sort-of-but-not-really cliffhanger chapter endings. :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm sorry I'm starting to get a little slow, guys. I'm just trying to get past this fight scene in chapter 10 – in case none of you noticed already, I don't like fight scenes. At all. And there's been some other crazy stuff going on in my life, but whatever~! I'll get these chapters out to you as fast as I humanly can!  
In case you all think I'm more awesome than I really am, no, I don't own HetaOni, Ao Oni, or Hetalia. I only own Yugoslavia (the other OCs belong to my IRL friends), around 7% of the plot, and a whole bunch of head canon-y goodness later on. :)**

**Chapter Nine**

"The rumors say that there are ghosts here, _da_? That's why nobody near this place…"

The words echoed through the otherwise silent air of the mansion's interior, their distinctive Russian accent fading with every repeat. They had originally come from the tallest of a clump of three people standing near the staircase in the mansion's foyer area. From the way they were spoken, the Russian speaker seemed to be very relaxed about the slim probability of the mansion actually being haunted.

"No wonder." America, leaning back casually against the wall, crossed his arms tightly over his chest as if that could protect him from the ghosts and such. He was trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice, but he was failing miserably. "It's such an eerie place…"

"Huh? How unusual of you, America. Are you scared?"

_Who said that?_ Jumping a good few inches into the air, America followed the voice with his eyes in a desperate attempt to find its owner. It wasn't long before he noticed the floating white bear and, a moment later, the young man behind it. _Oh, it's just Canadia._ "No! But it's a little – Wait a second. Where is everyone?"

Russia shrugged his shoulders slightly, readjusting his scarf around his neck as he spoke. "They said they would leave the first floor to us, and then they went straight up to the second floor."

America considered this for a moment, then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. For some reason, a slight chill went down his spine. "Hmm… Okay. Then we'll –"

No one was prepared for what happened next.

-x-

Meanwhile, another conversation was brewing among a group of three on the second floor, who also happened to be wandering almost aimlessly around over the stainless hardwood floors. This group included France, England, and China, the latter of which was forced to put up with the constant bickering of the former two. So much for trying to enjoy it.

"It's cleaner than one would expect, isn't it?" France was saying, eyeing the walls and floors for any evidence of dust, but none appeared.

England nodded distantly, too wrapped up in his thoughts to give a straight answer. "Yeah, but…" _Something's not right here… Ever since I stepped inside, I haven't seen any spirits, and no matter how I try to call to my fairy friends…none of them ever respond…_ "Um… C-can we go now?"

Grinning widely, France gave the Brit his classic "_ohonhonhon_" laugh. "What's the matter, England? Are you scared?"

England balled his fists, anticipating the usual Anglo-French War that tended to break out whenever one nation ticked the other off. "O-of course not! You idiot! That's not it! I-it's just that this place is sort of –"

China groaned inwardly, tuning out the argument so that he wouldn't have to listen to the flying insults. "This is totally silly. There are no ghosts here! You can go back if you want, aru."

"Hey, are you going to look around on your own, _mon ami_?" France drew his attention away from England for a moment, who had gotten pretty close to putting him in a choke hold.

China replied quickly, turning to face the wooden slab of a door standing between him and the room beyond, "I'll just peek into this room here. It smells a little bad." In hindsight, that seemed like a horrible reason to explore a seemingly locked room, but in the meantime it had sparked his curiosity.

"That's a little risky," England warned, but basically did nothing to stop China from moving forward.

France was the one to take hold of China's shoulder and hold the older country back. "_Non, pas encore._ I can't help but have a very unpleasant feeling about this place…" He glanced back at England, his eyes narrowing with confusion when he noticed his unfocused stare. "You've been very quiet for a while now, _Angleterre_. What's wrong? Is there something strange here?"

For once, England ignored the extremely annoying French-ized version of his name, realizing the deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "No, there's nothing…or no one…at all."

"…Russia and the others are on the first floor," China reminded, wondering in the back of his mind what those others were doing at the moment.

"Yes, I know. When I said there was no one here at all, I meant… How should I put it? It feels…as though everything is being consumed…"

France _ohonhonhon_ed again, obviously not reading the atmosphere at that particular moment. "You mean you can't see the usual illusions? If even the illusions have been consumed, maybe we really should keep out."

_They're not illusions, you bloody wanker._ Then again, the French frog did have a solid point.

"…I agree." China brushed his ponytail off of his shoulder, just to give himself something to do for the brief moment of consideration. "In that case, I'll go and take a look upstairs. …What are _you_ going to do, Opium?"

For the second time in the past five minutes, England forced himself to ignore an annoying nickname from one of his former allies. "I don't really want to stay on this floor. I'll go upstairs, too."

"What, you're leaving me here alone? _C'est__ pas __juste_," France whined, being overdramatic as usual. "…Well then, when you're done checking out upstairs, we'll meet again right here by the stairs, _oui_?"

China nodded once in agreement. "Alright. We'll leave the second floor to you."

"Thirty minutes should be enough," England supplied, eyeing his longtime enemy before turning again toward the stairwell with China. "Don't wall asleep on us, France." _Frog_.

"_Ohonhonhon_, you can trust me! Well, see you later~!" France's last line was obscured by the wall that now separated them as China and England climbed the stairs. About halfway up, China remembered something he wanted to say, and called his question down the hall without leaving the bottom step.

"Are you going to start from that room over there, aru?"

"_Oui_! That room is bad news, isn't it? I'll leave it for later!"

That was all China needed to hear, he dshed back up the stairs, greeted at the landing by a slightly annoyed England.

"Let's go," the Brit commanded, his arms folded passively across his chest, "quickly. If we make America wait, he won't shut up about it."

_Aiyah_. China tilted his head slightly to the right, noticing one small detail of England's face that he hadn't seen just moments ago. "You look pale, aru. You really hate it here, don't you?"

_I never thought I would envy people who can't "see" so much…_

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

England hadn't even realized that he had said his thoughts aloud until after the words left his mouth. _Well, at least he didn't hear me._ "…Nothing."

_Absolutely nothing._

-x-

Five minutes passed – or so they thought. In fact, England and China had a conversation about this just minutes ago, when the two were still taking a look around on the third floor. Apparently, they had found out that their phones were both out of range – odd, considering how close they should have been to a major city. In addition to that, the clocks on their phones had both automatically turned themselves off, as if they were purposefully trying to shield the true time from the nations. There was no way to tell time any other way – England briefly remembered an old, bronze pocket watch of his that he had left at his home before he arrived at Andorra la Vella for the meeting. Ah, how nice it would have been to have that with him.

It was at that point in the conversation when they peeked into a room that could only be described as the "piano room," for that was one of the few furnishings the room contained. The walls and floors were stark-white, contrasting nicely with the beautiful grand piano in the center colored as black as the midnight sky. Normally, such a room would have been labeled as bland and tossed aside in favor of something more interesting. But this time, there was something wrong. _Almost as if…_

England found himself staring off into space as China strode toward the large instrument. Something was definitely off. _I feel it… I sense something now, but…I haven't sensed a spirit like this in such a long time…_ "…China, I wouldn't touch that piano if I were you!"  
"Aiyah, again?" China scoffed at England's peculiar antics, taking a deliberate step closer to the instrument in question. "Are you sure you're not seeing things?"

"Fine then. Do what ever you want! Like I bloody care about what you're doing!" Swiveling on his heel, England tramped away from the room and made his way up the stairs to the attic, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like the phrase _that bloody git_.

And now, we are at the present again. After a minute or two of searching the one other room on the fourth floor, England had decided to familiarize himself with the attic space just across the hall. There was nothing special about it: there was only a few old boxes, a bookshelf, and…a chair that looked strangely familiar to one he used to own, red velvet cushion and all. _Heh, I remember this. Good times… Stupid Russia._ He was just turning away from the chair to examine the bookshelf when something materialized in the corner of his eye.

"…C-China! You bloody git! Don't scare me like that!"

The Orient nation chuckled under his breath. "You _were_ the one to run off, aru!"

"…" England decided, for the greater good, to change the subject and end the argument there. "Well, we've come all the way to the fourth floor, but everything looks pretty normal. The air is terrible, though," he added as an afterthought.

China gripped the insides of his (extremely long) sleeves with both hands, glancing around at the thin layer of dust coating everything in sight. "The bad feeling still isn't gone. Let's go back to France and go home!"

"Yeah. Well, let's –"

The Western nation's sentence was cut of by the sound of popping far below them. No, it wasn't popping; the sound would have been better described as what would happen if one was to create a tiny explosion and seal it inside of a metal tube…or if one was shooting a gun.

England waited for the shots to silence before regaining his voice. One…two, three…four, five, six, seven…eight… "That sound…"

"Is it the sound of America's pistol?" China started to shift back and forth on his feet without really noticing. "He fired a lot, aru."

"That means something must have happened, right?" At the thought, England's eyes squinted slightly. Oh America, you bloody git… What have you gotten yourself into?

"In a place like this? …Don't you think he just fell for Russia's provocation?"

_That's true, I suppose…_ "Oh, well. They do get carried away when they mess around with each other…"

"No…" China scratched the back of his neck, staring at the wall past England's shoulder in thought. "I feel that it's something different from messing around… Anyway, let's join France and go take a look."

England laughed dryly, as if the idea of teaming up with France was the worst idea in the history of mankind. "If you insist!"

-x-

_Silence._

_Pure, infinite silence._

_I know that there are others here, of course – I could see them coming, hear the footsteps in the dirt outside, sense their presence within this accursed place. It gives me an advantage, my sharpened senses. I can see, hear, smell more than I ever could before, so I am able to better assess situations. However…no matter what I am staring at, it is always tinted red. No matter what smell is permeating the air around me, it is drowned by the scent of blood. No matter who I am talking to, no matter what conversations are spinning around me, no matter what the world is trying to tell me…I can only hear silence._

_That does not mean I have gone deaf again. That was many loops ago, and had never happened since. But nothing truly means anything anymore. It is all being swallowed by an empty place in my chest where my heart should have been. I can feel myself slowly going insane – in fact, I am surprised that it has not yet happened. This mansion has weakened my mind over the times, even though my outer body has become stronger. The only things holding me away from the tempting release of the sane mind are sheer willpower and the slim, but possible, chance of escape. If I never succeed at getting them all out of here alive, I may give in to the insanity. Maybe it will be better than all of this. As a wise man once said, there is a fine line between genius and insanity._

**A/N: I feel so bad about this chapter. I feel like I failed it, as if it was a human being and I caused it to lose its ability to walk (or something stupid like that). Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Whatever.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10! …I didn't think I'd get this far. Thanks to all the people who read and/or reviewed! I appreciate the acknowledgement. :D  
I hate myself though. D: I feel like I'm getting worse at writing this with every chapter. (Then again, I'm just in one of those moods…) Please comment on this, because if I really am getting worse, then I need to know so I can make it better.**

**Chapter Ten**

"Fifteen minutes…"

Fifteen minutes, and the second floor was still completely devoid of people, except for the two nations sitting in near silence on the lowest step of the rising staircase. It felt strange to only have one person near you at a time like this, they realized, both throwing suspicious looks at their companion when the other wasn't noticing. It was England who had spoken, resting his chin on his open palm in exasperation.

"…Isn't France coming?" England continued, taking yet another glance down the empty hallway. _I would've expected the frog to be here by now._

China huffed, "What's the meaning of this? It shouldn't take this long to see the second floor." The Orient nation stood and stretched out his legs, stepping down from the stairs.

"Maybe he got tired of waiting and went downstairs?" _I wouldn't put it past the__ git__ to do something stupid like that._

"Well, he certainly gets bored easily," China agreed. He straightened out the collar of his dark green military uniform. "I'll check the rooms on the second floor to make sure we didn't miss each other. You wait here!"

"Yeah, or else we might miss each other again." England took the opportunity to lean back against the wall and give his eyes a break. For some reason, he was extremely tired now, as if some outside force was draining his reserves of energy. _But it's only been a few hours since the meeting ended…right?_

China, although wanting to do the same, ignored England's actions and inner conversation in favor of searching the rooms on the floor. First, he tried a room to their right – it was just a bedroom, furnished unimpressively with two beds, a table, and a few bookshelves crammed into the far corner. _Nothing to see here_, he told himself as he closed the door again and moved on. A strange smell hit his nose when he reentered the corridor, and though he couldn't identify it, he knew for sure that it was the same odor that tainted the air in the attic. _Hmm…_ He followed the scent to a door to the right of the staircase, and without another thought he pursued the mysterious smell to its source.

It looked like a conference room, complete with a large table and several bookshelves containing reference books and periodicals in several languages. A pair of beds were squeezed into a corner near the door – as _if there aren't enough bedrooms, aru_ – and standing proudly directly in front of the door was a beautiful stone-ad-wood fireplace. Upon closer examination, there were blackened logs and traces of ash lodged in the bottom, and a few embers twinkled faintly beneath the shade of the wood. "Burnt firewood… So this is the source of the bad smell," he mused, kneeling down to get a better look at the firewood. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except… He reached past the logs and wrapped his fingers around the thin object. It crumpled in his grasp like a piece of paper; only when he held it up to the light did he realize that it actually was a piece of paper, the kind that one would rip out of a spiral-bound notebook. It contained carefully scribed words, the neat cursive script written across the lines in black ink. The bottom edge was blackened considerably, most likely from the fire that had previously resided within its stone restraints. "What's this?" Unable to answer his own question, he darted out of the room to show England his clue.

"Opium, I found something!" China nudged England with his foot. "Wake up, aru!"

England's eyes flew open, taking a microsecond to remember where he was before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Hmm? Did you find him?"

"No. But I found this in the fireplace in the other room." He handed the paper to the blonde-haired Brit.

"What? What's –" England snatched the paper from China's hand and examined it closely. He too noticed the black cursive writing, the classic notebook paper, and the charred black edge. But before he got the chance to actually read over the notes that the page contained, he spotted an official-looking title at the beginning, the six words piercing his heart and sending him into a downward spiral of confusion and shock.

_**Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia**_

_No. No, this isn't possible. She didn't come! She didn't want to in the first place! But…how is this possible? Why would her notes from the meeting be here if she wasn't? …Is she here? Is she in danger? Did she get hurt? Is she alone? Bloody hell, why didn't I stay with her? I should have –_

"Opium!"

The voice of China lodged itself into England's mental conversation, dragging him back to the real world. Staring a hole into the paper, he felt a new weight pressing down on his shoulders. He wished he knew what it could be. "…She's here."

China raised an eyebrow. "Who's here, aru?"

"Yugoslavia. She's here. Why is she here?" England rose and paced across the hall and back, beginning the process of wearing a straight line into the wooden flooring. "This place is dangerous, but if Y's here, it's a different matter! I'll look for her and then go home!"  
China couldn't do much else but watch England move back and forth, back and forth. "Calm down! Why would _she_ be here anyway?" He didn't give him the chance to respond. "Listen, we only came here because we went along with America's stupid story and had nothing better to do, right?"

Not pausing for a second, England glanced again at the paper, reading over every letter several times. "That's why this is so weird! She would never come to a place like this…not willingly, anyway."

"Just think about it, Opium! We've been here for less than an hour. How could she have gotten here before us? She's probably still at the meeting place, aru."

"Th-then what is this?!" England demanded, waving the paper in the air near China's face to prove his point. "This was a page of her notes from the meeting earlier today! Why would the same notes be burning in the fireplace?!" _France is missing too – like I care about the__ git__, though. And America was shooting at something…_

"This place _is_ pretty weird," China noted, pushing the paper away and taking a step back from the bewildered Brit. "I'll go talk to the others about it."

England forced himself to pause and take a deep breath, the haunting scent of burnt firewood lodged in his nose. "Alright. Anyway, let's go back. The chances that… N-never mind. Let's just go."

The last thing the two noticed as they descended the stairs to the first floor was the faint metallic odor weaved into the dispersing smoke.

-x-

If anyone had ever thought that something like this would happen when they first arrived here, they would have never come at all.

England and China had followed the sound of the gunshots to the first floor and had started to search the floor for any signs of life, and were greeted by the faint _crash_ of something large and heavy slamming against the wall. The sound emanated from a half-closed door at the end of the hallway to their left, so they assumed the worst and ran for the door, kicking it aside and getting a good view of whatever was going on inside.

The first thing that was to be noted was the _Thing_. It was slightly taller than the doorway they were standing in and ashen gray in color, with a huge head balancing on a long neck connected to a humanoid-ish body. Turned to the side away from the two, its large black eyes gave it a frightening similarity to the aliens in America's movies. At the moment, its face and body was littered with scars, some with sticky crimson flowing from them onto the ground below. That was the second thing – the scent of blood hung in the air, and it hit the newcomers so hard that it was almost enough to make England sick.

The third thing was the two figures standing back against the far wall with red staining their clothes and shocked expressions on their faces. They were none other than Russia and Canadia, the two largest countries in the world, fighting side by side (for once) against a common enemy.

"What the – Uh? What?! What is that monster?!"

England's exclamation made Russia look up from tending briefly to an injury on his arm, flashing his fellow nations a smile. "Ah, you two sure took you time, didn't you? As you can see, we're in the middle of an assault."

"Y-you two…b-b-better run –" Canada didn't look in much better shape than Russia did. Even with fewer wounds, he was terribly pale and shaking slightly. Of course, after who-knows-how-long of staring that Thing in the face, no one could blame him. Kumajirou was right there at his side, staring at the enemy with the most confusion that a single small white bear could muster.

In the time it took Canadia to speak, England and China had stepped farther forward into the room, while still staying away from the hideous monstrosity at the center. The monstrosity itself, meanwhile, decided to take advantage of the slight distraction and attack Russia, the only thing separating its claws from the tall nation's heart being his ever-present attack pipe. Even with that means of defense, a few claws still connected with skin, warm blood welling up from a pair of fresh parallel scratches across his face.

Canada flinched away from the attack, barely avoiding barreling into his beloved pet. "R-Russia!"

"…That hurt," Russia commented nonchalantly, as if he was talking about the weather instead of a new wound. "The water pipes in this place really are no good at all. Good thing I brought one of my own~!"

Canada, basically without a weapon except for the very unlikely attack bear, glanced around for anything that could be useful at the moment. "I-it's no use! Even if it's yours, it's just a tap!"

In response, Russia promptly returned the attack, the outer sheath of the pipe falling away and revealing a thin, silver blade still connected to the curve of the tap. Within moments it had sunken through the sickly gray flesh of the Thing and given it a slice that it would be sure to remember. The Thing hissed in pain and took a few stumbling steps backward.

China had to do a double take to make sure he was seeing everything correctly. "Huuuh? How come the pipe turned into a sword?!"

"Actually, this is a sword cane," Russia stated cheerfully, rubbing a spot of blood off the end of the blade as if it was just a smudge of dirt. "I asked Japan to make it for me! It's really sharp, isn't it?"

_This is ridiculous, aru. There's no way that this is all actually happening. I must be asleep in the –_ When Russia attacked the Thing for a second time, his sword cut even deeper, sending droplets of blood flying and nearly hitting China in the face. "Aiyah! That's nasty!"

"But it didn't cause any damage at all…" At the moment, Canadia was too busy wiping stray blood from his arms to worry about the flabbergasted look on China's face.

"L-let's give them reinforcements," England murmured to the Orient nation, one hand balling into a fist of determination.

China, now recovered from his momentary shock, held his head high and glared with annoyance at the Thing attacking who one could call his friends. "Right, aru!"

And thus, the battle began.

**A/N: Gosh, I thought I'd never finish this chapter! And I didn't even get to the fight scene yet… But that's okay, because I've got an even better plan that involves new people, shadiness, and no time travel whatsoever! :D I hope you all enjoyed this shorter chapter~!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

_No. No! This can not be happening! This was not supposed to happen! It was supposed to be me instead! I made another mistake! I should have done it myself and spared both of their lives!_

_Wait… Maybe this is how it must be… Maybe that was just momentary. Yes. As long as everything goes the way it did before, everything will be okay. Everyone will be okay. I have to keep a watchful eye out, though. Who knows what is going to happen this time. I must remember…I must! Or else they are all doomed…_

_And I will be alone…again…_

-x-

They heard sounds as they walked into the mansion. In a normal house, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been so strange. But this wasn't a normal house, and they were certainly not under normal circumstances. The noises were anything but normal anyway. Random crashes, shouting that sounded miles away yet close enough to still hear, a strange ear-piercing sound like the shriek of rusty metal grinding against each other. It was almost as if there was a fight in the other room…

The former Axis Powers (plus Prussia) took all of this in as they examined the foyer area, finding absolutely nothing else of interest besides the cool earthy tones of the walls and floors. With the exception of the sounds, the mansion could have been described as completely boring – but they haven't seen all of it yet.

Italy, being the last to enter and holding onto the strange feeling of déjà vu, hung back in the doorway as the others took their time glancing around at everything they could see. Something just didn't seem right, and it wasn't just the déjà vu that was bothering him. It was as if the mansion was saying something to him, trying to warn the pasta-loving, white flag-waving nation that there was more to it than meets the eye. It was almost as if…

It was at that moment that the group regathered around the youngest member to report their findings, of which there were very few. Japan had taken interest in a Japanese-style room down the corridor directly in front of the door, although he said he couldn't see very well and wasn't sure what would be inside.

"Alright," Germany stated, crossing his arms bluntly across his chest, "I'll go with Japan to investigate the other room. Prussia, you stay here with Italy."  
Prussia snorted loudly, proclaiming his minor contempt to everyone present. "What's the matter, West? Am I just too awesome for you to handle? Kesesesesese~"

Biting his tongue to keep from lashing out at his brother, Germany turned away from Prussia, his face never changing from its usual serious expression. "You stay here with Italy, Preußen."

_No. That's not right… Something bad is about to happen, I just know it!_ "Ve~ But –"

"Stay _here_, Italy."

Italy sighed in defeat, turning his eyes down toward the floor. "Y-yes sir." He didn't look up, even when he heard two sets of footsteps slowly fading away, even when he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What's the matter, Ita? Afraid of the ghosts?" Prussia's voice wasn't as mocking as it was when he was talking to his brother moments ago, even though his mightier-than-thou attitude still remained. "Don't worry 'bout it! Prussia the Awesome is here to protect you!" He paused for a second, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion. "Hey, are you okay? You look unawesomely pale."

_Am I? I must not have noticed…_ "Uh…" For some reason, Italy felt strange. It was a sensation almost like being sick to his stomach, but it was different in a way that he couldn't describe. "…I-I'm fine…"

Prussia snorted again. He seemed to be having a hard time believing people today. "I'll go get ya some water. There's probably a bathroom or somethin' upstairs. Stay right here. The awesomeness that is the Awesome Prussia will be back!" His last words were distant as he darted up the stairs and around the corner, leaving little Italy alone in the foyer of the mansion.

_Well, look at that… I'm all alone again…_

_What? Where did that come from?_ Wildly shaking his head to force away the strange new thoughts, Italy sat down beside the door with his back against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest and waiting for something – anything – to happen…

-x-

"…This isn't good."

Malta had woken up that morning – or when she assumed morning was – to the lovely sight of an unlocked door, a frightened Yugoslavia, and a nonexistent Andorra. For a second she had thought that it was a dream, but that thought was quickly abandoned with the faint smell of smoke from the fire. Yugo had confined herself to a distant corner of the room and was writing hurriedly in her journal with her switchblade sitting on the floor beside her, the blade exposed. She seemed guilty for some reason, although that wasn't too hard for Malta to figure out. Yugo always felt guilty whenever she couldn't control something that goes wrong.

"This isn't good," Malta echoed herself, pacing the floor and trying to put the pieces of the story together. "Andorra's gone. She must've heard something in the middle of the night…but what? She wouldn't just leave on us, would she?"

Yugoslavia shook her head, unable to answer Malta's question. "I told her that she should have rested…" She snapped the journal shut and threw it back into her bag, grabbing her knife with the other hand. The blade retreated into the handle with a crisp _shing_. "I should have been the lookout. I should have told her to rest…"

"You did," Malta persisted, "and she didn't listen. Look Yugo, it wasn't your fault. Whoever's fault it was, we have to find Andorra. I'll go take a look around the first and second floors. You can stay here.

"But –"

Malta cut her off with a flash of her open palm. "No buts, Yugo. I'll be fine. It'll just be a few minutes. I'll call you if there's anything wrong, okay?"

Forcing herself to take a calming breath, Yugoslavia reached into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around her cell phone. "O-okay."

No more words said, Malta snatched her own knife from beside her bed and slipped out the door, disappearing into the bowels of the house.

Yugoslavia shook her head, her eyes not moving from the point where she had last seen her other friend. "Why would you do that?" she asked, knowing full well that her question would never be answered. "You are making us both vulnerable. Have you learned nothing from this?"

_Of course not. She has only been here for a few hours. She could not possibly be on her guard yet. She has barely even seen the monster._

A few minutes passed before her anxiety kicked in. Unsure of what to expect, she looked at her phone to make sure she had not received any calls. The clock wouldn't display. _Strange…_ Unable to take much more of the absolute silence, she grabbed her switchblade and headed out, the key firmly placed at the bottom of her pocket. An uncomfortable ringing rose in her ears; by now, she knew that it could only mean trouble.

-x-

_They've been gone for a while now…_ Italy scanned the foyer for the millionth time in search of any new movement. It felt like forever since he had seen Japan, Germany, or Prussia, even though it couldn't have been longer than a few minutes. The strange part was, he kept hearing things, bits and pieces of conversations from voices that he just couldn't seem to place.

_Hey! Look! The door is open!_

"Germany!" Leaping up from his place on the floor, he looked around wildly for his former ally, but there was no one to be found. _Just another voice… But how? Maybe this place is haunted after all…_

_Why are you waiting? We can escape!_

There it was again: the disembodied voice of Germany. Sliding back down the wall, Italy grabbed the doorknob and gave it a good tug. It wouldn't budge, furthering his suspicions. Something was definitely wrong here.

_THUMP._

Something heavy hit the floor at the top of the staircase, silencing Italy's thoughts. He completely forgot about Prussia as his imagination ran free, picturing any number of scary things hidden in the shadows above. He watched with fear as a figure quickly descended the stairs and started for the corridor to his right. Without really trying to, he felt himself start trembling, and before he knew it the figure had stopped dead in their tracks in the threshold of the corridor.

The figure could hear something in the shadows: a small, rapid motion; panicked breathing. Their senses were sharp enough to also catch something else, something that no living soul would be able to notice. It was the faint, but recognizable, sound of a heart, beating to the rhythm of fear and anxiety.

_Something else is here._

The figure spun around and flicked out their knife, half-expecting the Thing to appear behind them, but froze when they spotted a cowering figure sitting on the floor by the wall, trembling wildly. "…Italy!"

The frightened Italian flinched and glanced up, the fear on his face dissolving into partial relief. "Ve? Yugoserbia, you're here~!" He leaped up to hug her, but paused when he saw the knife. "…What's that for?"

_No, this can not be right. They should not be here yet! This is all wrong…_ Yugoslavia carefully reviewed their surroundings, namely the two hallways branching off on either side. She could hear commotion at the end of the hall to her left, the direction of the kitchen Andorra had seen earlier. She turned away from that and looked Italy in the eyes, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Italy, listen very carefully. It is not safe out here. You did not come alone, did you? Where are the others?"

"I'm not sure…" Italy looked down at his feet. His concern and anxiety was almost too obvious, and didn't suit the happy-go-lucky nation at all. "Germany told me to stay here. He left with Japan… P-Prussia wandered off to the second floor…"

_The second floor? I did not see him though… Maybe…_ The noise got louder with the addition of a new, higher voice. Yugoslavia dug her nails into her palm. "We have no time to waste. Here, take this." She passed him the key to the fireplace room. "This is for a room upstairs, an unlocked one with a fireplace. Lock the door and do not do anything until I knock. Do you understand?"

Italy's expression was indescribable. It didn't seem to fit his usually bubbly personality, and at this particular moment it almost made him look like a different person. It was like he knew… But his eyes still shone with fear and innocence. "Ve~ Yes sir! Er, ma'am…" He gave a sheepish laugh at his mistake, to which Yugoslavia smiled gently.

"Do not worry, Italy. Everything will be explained later. Now, go on."

Like a bullet, the Italian ran for the stairs, shooting upward and into the shadows from which she had just come. Yugoslavia let out a breath. His face had scared her for a moment, but not because it looked scary. _It looked so…so…_ She pushed it out of her mind. _Ignore that. He will be fine. I have to find Malta._

**(A/N: Fail cutoff is fail. DX)**

**A/N: Hooray for chapters completely unrelated to the game whatsoever! :D I'm just happy I got this done over the weekend. Stuff's been crazy lately.**

**EDIT: I'm sorry if this is shorter than my usual chapters. Because there's such a long cut scene after this, it was either around 2000 words or 3000, and the latter just didn't work with me. But whatever.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: That awkward moment when your friend decides to put their OC into the center of an extremely awkward love triangle right when I'm about to start mentioning her OTP. O.O Blame Andorra. That's all I'm gonna say.**

**Chapter Twelve**

How many nations does it take to defeat a psychopathic alien monster that lives in an old abandoned mansion in the middle of the mountains in a country no one's ever heard about? Obviously, more than four.

In the aftermath of the most recent round of attacks dealt by the wonderful Thing, China, England, Canada, and Russia were forced to the ground, several fresh wounds marking their skin and crimson droplets spattered everywhere like a grotesque abstract painting. The Thing stood over them, watching with apparent interest as they suffered their pain.

Russia, who was leaning back against the sink for support, had traded his smile for a look of slightly surprised disappointment. "Aww, too bad. It didn't work at all."

"Opium," China huffed accusingly, wiping the blood off of a deep scratch down his arm, "why aren't you doing anything useful?!"

_You git! Why aren't _you_ doing anything useful?!_ England couldn't say this out loud, though, because he just couldn't gather the energy. "…Sorry. This place itself is blocking my magic; it looks like I can only use a small part of it…"

The Orient nation grumbled under his breath, "What a troublesome place! I have no strength left, aru…"

The Thing must have caught on to England's weakness, because it started advancing toward him, its glazed black eyes piercing his soul and pulling out everything it could. England would have scooted back, if he could, but he was paralyzed with shock and weariness. All he could do was sit there and wait for his own demise…

"Hey you! Stay away from my friends!"

This new voice seemingly cam out of nowhere, accompanied by the sound of a meat cleaver flying through the air and streaking past the Thing's head. It reeled back in agony and surprise, giving the figure just enough time to retrieve their weapon and stand in front of the other nations.

"EH?!" England couldn't believe his eyes. "M-Malta?!"

Confirming her identity, Malta shot a sarcastic glance toward the Brit. "Yeah, hi. You sure got yourself into trouble, didn't you?" To the others, she added, "You guys have to wait a little while before we can talk."

Canada had to blink a few times to make sure she was actually there. "Malta! What are you doing here? I t-thought you were staying at the meeting place!"

"Changed my mind. Are you guys okay?" She didn't give them time to answer her question, instead turning and leveling her gaze with the Thing's. "I'll just deal with this Thing, then."

From his place beside Canada, Russia gripped his sword-pipe tighter in his hands, as if he could get up and help the Mediterranean nation fight even with his injuries. "It is awfully strong."

Malta shook her head once. "I know. I got this." She finally spotted the blood that stained the floor and cringed slightly. "Wow, it really did a number on you, didn't it? Allow me to pay it back I kind for the injuries you sustained!" She thought she hard a voice from somewhere behind her, but she ignored it as the Thing charged, falling right into her trap. It was almost like she was back in the attic for a moment, except Andorra and Yugoslavia weren't by her side. She could almost see the dictionary fly over her head and hitting the Thing in the eyes…

She was shocked when it actually happened. Again.

"Stay back!" she shouted, unsure of what exactly just happened. Ignoring the fact that Yugo could've been behind her, she launched an all-out assault on the Thing, several random hacks and slashes followed by her signature move; she half-threw her knife at the Thing first horizontally, then vertically. "_Maltese Cross_!" While it was trying to back away, she finished the fight by neatly slicing across its face, watching with a feeling of tired success as it crashed to the floor in a gray, bloody heap. Within moments it had dissolved into the air.

"Wow," Russia stated, breaking the half-silence of the battlefield. "He looks just like Canada now."

In response, Canada shrunk back from the Eurasian nation, trying to hide his anger and hurt. "Just say he disappeared, will you?"

Malta, with a heaving sigh, spun around to look her friend in the eye. "Yugo, I told you to stay upstairs!"

"I…" Yugoslavia, who had kneeled down beside the injured China and England, looked down at herself, unable to meet Malta's gaze. "…I could not do it! It was my fault, and I had to help in some way!" She took a closer look at England's face. He was staring up at something she couldn't see with wide emerald eyes. She tried waving a hand in front of his face. "England? Can you hear me?"

Beside them, China snatched Yugoslavia's bandages from her and started wrapping his bleeding arm. "He's spaced out, aru."

Not moving her eyes from the Brit in front of her, Yugoslavia took off her jacket and gently wiped the blood from England's face. "England?"

As if on cue, he flinched slightly, his eyes regaining their focus at they moved away from the space they had previously been pointed at. "Ugh… Y? I-is that you?"

"Yes, it is me. Can you stand?"

"Y-yeah." England pushed himself to his feet, taking a few more glances around the room to refresh the memory of the battle in his mind. He turned to face Malta, who was busy checking on Canada's and Russia's wounds. "…Anyway, what are you doing here? Have you fought that monster before? It wasn't the first time…was it?"

Malta took a moment to stare confusedly at him, motioning for China to toss her the bandages. "What? What're you talking about? You've fought it before, haven't you? You got here first, after all."

"We haven't been here for even an hour," China countered, stretching his arms out behind him. "You weren't even supposed to be here, aru!" _Aiyah… This is too confusing…_

Russia nodded, confirming China's statement and looking across the room at Yugoslavia. "China's right. Why are you here, _Kuzen Yugoslavii_?"

Not in the mood to answer very many questions at the moment, Yugoslavia smiled nervously as she leaned back against the wall. "After you left, Andorra and Malta wanted to come, and I thought that I might as well come along."

"Sunflower?" Russia was referring to Andorra, the only member of the trio that wasn't present. "She's here? Where is she?"

Malta and Yugoslavia shared a look of _this can't end well_. Neither nation wanted to tell him the truth – they both knew that it would probably break his surprisingly fragile heart. In the end, Malta was the one to speak up. "…There are many things we need to talk about. First of all, let's go to the second floor. I know of a safe room there." She glanced at Yugoslavia, knowing that the ex-nation should have had the key, but she was more than a little skeptic. _Oh, it'll be fine. It's not like she locked it inside the room. Yugo wouldn't be that scatterbrained!_

"W-wait a minute! What about this then?" England waved a charred piece of paper in the air in front of him. "What's with these notes? Why were they nearly burned?!"

Yugoslavia grabbed his wrist to still the paper, taking a few seconds to look it over before releasing her hand. "Oh, that is a page of my notes from the meeting that I threw into the fireplace. Why do you have them?"

The only thing that England could do for a minute or two was stare incredulously at Yugoslavia. It took a while before he could respond clearly. "China found them when he went into that room! …You aren't hurt or anything, are you?"

"Why would I be?"

"We're both fine," Malta interjected stubbornly, "thanks for asking. Come on, let's get back up to the fireplace room. We'll explain up there."

China and Russia obediently followed Malta out of the kitchen area, tailed closely by the nearly-silent Canada. He paused for just a moment in the doorway and glanced back at the two nations behind him. Yugoslavia had England's arm over her shoulders, steadying him just enough for him to walk properly. They were quietly conversing about something, although the North American nation couldn't hear what they were saying. Before he could speak up, they started in his direction, their speech silencing and their gazes turned away from each other.

_Strange…_ Canada continued on his way, having to run a short distance to catch up with Russia and China. _What could they have been talking about that they didn't want anyone else to hear? Maybe something's wrong… She did look extremely tired, after all…_ No, he scolded himself, _I shouldn't worry about it._

_It'll be fine._

-x-

It took only moments to make the trip up the stairs and around to the fireplace room – for most, anyway. For Yugoslavia and England, it had taken just a bit longer, with England's injuries weighing him down despite the support from his trusted friend. By the time they got up to the door of the fireplace room, everyone else was just a little ticked off, but Malta proceeded anyway.

"You do have the key, right Yugo?"

Pausing in her steps and pulling his arm away from her shoulders, she looked Malta in the eye before answering very straightforwardly. "No." She put just enough time between her answer and the action of turning toward the door to see the horror and fury on their faces. Ignoring the sudden flaring emotions from her companions, she rapped her knuckles gently on the door.

Whatever happened to be on the other side gave a startled cry. "VE! …W-who is it?"

"It is Yugoslavia. I have found a few others as well. Can you please unlock the door?" She had not even finished her sentence before the door flung open, revealing a certain pasta-loving Italian smiling back at her.

"_Ciao_, Yugosyria! I was starting to worry that you wouldn't come back!" Italy stepped to the side, brightening everyone's days as they filed past him into the open space.

When Malta's turn to go inside came, she latched onto Yugoslavia's shoulder and dragged her friend after her. "Why's Italy here? I thought I gave _you_ the key!"

"I will explain it," Yugoslavia reassured, prying her friend's hand off of her and moving toward the fireplace to relight the flames that had previously been burning within. She noticed a small wooden box under one of the beds, and because of the small amount of firewood left she tossed it in as well, the surface crackling under the intense heat.

Malta decided not to sit down yet, instead standing to gain everyone's attention. It took a little yelling, but she quickly got everyone's eyes focused on her. "Sorry for the wait. I'll start the explanation in a sec. But first, I think we need to name the Thing _Steve_!"

The others looked at her like she had just grown another head, and China was no exception. "…You want to name it Steve, aru?"

"Yeah! If we just keep calling it the Thing all the time, then we'll have no idea what we're talking about if someone else starts talking about some other thing!" When no one responded to her idea, she groaned inwardly. "Fine. Anyway, about two hours after you and the Axis guys left the meeting place, Andorra and I decided that we wanted to go, and Yugo agreed to tag along. So the three of us came here after you. Andorra went to take a look around, but in the meantime, Steve –" She received a few rolled eyes from her audience for calling it that. "– appeared and attacked Yugo and me."  
England glanced between the two females, but mostly directed his question toward Yugoslavia. "W-were you alright after that?"

The Balkan nation offered a nod, barely a tilt of the head, while tending to the fire. "Yes, somehow. For better or for worse, it seemed to be attacking me. I was able to escape by running away, though."

"You got away?! That's amazing…" China seemed completely awestruck by her comment, barely noticing the fact that he wasn't exactly sure who she was.

Malta continued with her story, pressing her palms down onto the table. "Eventually, even though we didn't have a clue about Steve's true nature, we all got together again and spent the night in this room, with a sense of security because we had the key to it."

Russia inquired, "The night?"

"That really is odd," Canada said in agreement. "…I mean, we – Oh, I'm sorry. Please, go on."

"We decided that one of us should keep watch, and Andorra said that she would do it." Malta wasn't completely sure, but she thought she saw Yugoslavia murmuring something under her breath and digging her nails into her palm. "…I guess Yugo and I fell into a deep sleep because of our sense of security. When we woke up, the door was unlocked, and Andorra was gone. There were bloodstains in the hallway, so I followed the trail, but…eventually…"

"…the trail ended." Russia's expression could have been described as blank and unemotional, but that would have been completely wrong. His eyes betrayed a hint of pain and guilt.

"I tried looking for her, but I didn't want to lose Yugo too, so I told her to stay here. I was checking the first floor when I found you guys."

Canada drummed his fingertips on the table. "That makes sense… But what about Italy?"

"I found him when I went after Malta," Yugoslavia explained quietly, turning her eyes away from her fellow nations. "He was sitting in the foyer. He had come just moments before with Germany, Japan, and Prussia. The former two left to explore one of the other rooms, and Prussia went upstairs to get him some water, but none of them came back. I found him alone and sent him up here with the key, then joined you in the battle." That was quite a mouthful for her, and everyone knew it, so no one objected when she sat down on the floor next to the fire and refused to say another word.

_Prussia's gone too. _Malta tried to pretend that she didn't care, but it was almost obvious in the way she suddenly lapsed into silence and the way her gaze suddenly turned downward.

Italy added, "Ve~ Shouldn't America and France be here, too?"

"Yeah," England stated. "The six of us came here on America's suggestion and split up into two groups. China, France, and I went to check out the second floor, while America, Russia, and Canada looked around the first floor."

China continued where England left off. "We had a bad feeling while we were on the second floor, so Opium and I went to check out the third and fourth floors. When we finished looking and came down to the second floor, France was gone and I found Yugoslavia's burnt notes in this room. I'd wondered what had happened, aru."

"We came back to the first floor and found Russia and Canada fighting that Thing. That ba –" England cleared his throat, catching himself before he could say anything that would offend Yugoslavia. "…The _Thing_ disappeared the first chance he got."

Malta rested her chin in her palm, finally sitting down again. "Really? …I vaguely noticed it when I was fighting it, but Steve…he kind of…"

Russia gave this some thought. "…It resembles a friend of America's, doesn't it?"

"Aiyah, that's right! I noticed it the moment I saw it! That's definitely it! Uh…its name was…"

"To…Tommy? Wasn't it?" England glanced around, slight doubt pricking at the edge of his words.

_No… That is wrong…_

"_Da_, that was definitely his name. They look identical. Do you think that this was America's doing? He is the one who heard the rumors about this place and asked us to come here, after all."

_No, that can not be right. It was not his fault. It was never his fault…_

"I see!" For the first time since the emergency meeting had begun, Italy sounded truly relieved. "So this is just a prank of America's that had gone too far! Well, in that case, there's nothing else to say! Let's just look for everyone and then go home~!"

The sounds of quiet cheers and calm chattering filled the air for a moment, with only few voices faded to silence. From among the cacophony of voices, a single statement rose above the others, silencing its companions with four ominous syllables.

"You're mistaken."

-x-

_**Survivors: 7**_

_**Missing: 6**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: I hate fight scenes. I'm sorry. (*dies*)  
I just can't win, can I? No matter what, these cut scenes are too frickin' long for me to write well and not get close to 3000 words… *headdesk* Well, whatever. I hope you enjoyed this~!  
By the way, the little tally at the end there is stolen/borrowed from the awesome Fanfictionite ****The Singing Maiden**** and her HetaOni fanfic. I was reading that earlier this week and I just had to add it in.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Just so everyone knows, I DO NOT OWN HETALIA OR HETAONI. That would be pretty cool if I did though. :D Malta belongs to my IRL (and now Fanfiction) friend malta-chan765, and Andorra belongs to our other IRL friend. I own little of the plot and a whole bunch of head canon-y awesomeness in the upcoming chapters. Enjoy this chapter…as long as you're not triskaidekaphobic!**

**Chapter Thirteen**

"You're mistaken."

The room silenced. That in itself was an incredible feat, since one voice alone usually couldn't cause an entire roomful of chattering nations to just stop their conversations completely. And it was unheard of – literally – for such a quiet voice as Canada's to do the job.

"That's not Tony," Canada continued, rising from his chair with a look of complete confidence in his eyes.

Without even bothering to notice the Canadian's attempted persuasions, Russia interrupted, "When we were talking about going through the first floor, that Thing appeared, too. But the moment I saw it, I realized it was the friend that America had introduced us to before."

"Y-yeah. That's it, right?" Malta crossed her arms, suddenly feeling a strange chill run up her spine. A faint sound like static filled her ears, although she barely noticed. "We decided that Steve was America's alien friend and felt a little less worried about this place."

It was Canada's turn to interrupt, his voice rising in volume. "I live close to America and I've met Tony several times. I suppose they do look alike. But even so…he would never attack America."

China paused and blinked once to make sure he was hearing correctly. "Attacked… What? It attacked him?!"

"It was only one hit. America was thrown against the wall, but he was still conscious somehow and began shooting at it. It had no effect at all, though…" Canada wearily breathed out. Maybe defending his brother's name was a bit tiring for him. "We thought it was America's friend at first, but when it suddenly attacked America and he seemed to fight back for real… We realized that we were probably wrong"

"So that's why we heard shooting," England mused to himself.

Russia continued the story where Canada left off. "We had no idea what to do. He was getting cornered, and when we tried to do something about it, he yelled at us to get away."

"I think he…wanted to handle it on his own. But it was too strong even for the three of us, so we decided to get it away from him. I couldn't fight it, though… I lowered my guard for one moment and was knocked out. When I came to, both that creature and America were…gone." Finally finished with his explanation, Canada collapsed into his seat again, his head bowed tiredly. He didn't move when he felt Yugoslavia's comforting hand on his shoulder. "I-I'm sorry, Russia, for all the trouble I gave you…"

"No, you weren't a burden at all! It's pretty hard to fight while you protect someone~ But if you want to thank me, why don't you become one with Mother Russia?" Russia added a very creepy smile at the end of his statement just to watch Canada squirm. "…Anyway, we wanted to help him, but we didn't know where he'd gone. We decided me might as well start looking in the kitchen, and then the Thing appeared again and China joined us. In other words, three people are missing."

"And Germany, and Prussia, and Japan…" Italy started listing off the others who had come with him, but stopped and cowered when he caught Russia's intimidating eye.

"…_Six_ people are missing. I think we should help them as soon as possible. America has nothing to do with it, so we can't feel safe anymore. We should expect the worse, _da_?"

"Oh!"

All the nations looked back then they heard Yugoslavia's surprised voice. England stood so that he could see her and the fireplace from the other side of the table, although his legs were still a little shaky. "What's wrong?"

Yugoslavia was crouched next to the fire, staring intently into the blackened wood of the formerly solid box. "There seems to be something inside the burnt wooden box! Just a second…" She flicked out her switchblade and carefully touched the mysterious objet with the tip, bringing it closer to the edge of the flames and somehow managing to not get burned herself.

"Be careful, love."

England's warning went nearly unnoticed as she maneuvered the object away from the fire and onto the stone of the hearth to cool. Only then could she identify the function of the object; it was a key, a silver-colored one that seemed completely fine even after roasting in the fireplace for a solid five minutes. Its appearance was similar to those that they had found before. "…It is another key! I wonder where it goes to…" She gently picked it up with the sleeve of her jacket and gazed at the flat end. The faint inscription read **HW-D**.

"We got a new breach!" China seemed only too happy about that.

England decided that he would take charge for the time being, so he stood and put in his two cents' worth. "Finding a way out was our priority, but first we have to think of a way to rescue our friends. If we're thorough in our search, I'm sure we'll find them. Four of them are also tenacious people. They've got to be somewhere…"

At the mention of the word friends, Russia seemed to brighten slightly. "Friends, huh? Sounds interesting. I was caught by surprise before, but next time I meet the Thing, I'll have a lot to thank it for."

"We should hurry up," Malta advised, returning to her role as the person in charge. "We'll lose someone else if we waste enough time. We should split up into three groups, since we have so much to do. And no one can go alone. Each group should have at least two people. Now, about our watches –"

_Clack._

Everyone jumped a foot in the air when the sound erupted behind them, Italy going so far as to cling to Yugoslavia's arm in fear. By now, it was almost too obvious – to some, anyway – what was hiding behind that door, straining the knob so much.

_Clack… Clack clack…_

Malta might have cursed when she heard it, but she kept her rude words to herself. "Crap, it found us… This room isn't safe anymore."

"Was it ever off-limits?" England belted out a single curse as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do in situations like this. "What are we going to do?!"

"Simple," Malta stated as enthusiastically as possible while being half-frozen in fear. "I've fought it the most out of everyone, so my group will be in charge of dealing with the Thing. Since Yugo found the key, she and England can search for the room to open with it."

"I'm one of the strongest here –" China didn't notice the annoyed glares he received from everyone else in the room. "– so I'll fight with Malta, aru!"

Russia raised his hand, although the action was completely unnecessary considering the current circumstances. "Can I join you? I really have to thank it for all the trouble it has caused us~!"

"I'll go with Italy, then. There's a room I want to investigate anyway, so that's where we're headed, eh." Canada glanced at Yugoslavia, then England. "If you make any progress, come to the room with the piano."

Yugoslavia picked herself up off the ground and gave him a nod of confirmation. "Alright. B-be careful, everyone…"

It wasn't a second later before the doorknob, which had been shaking wildly, snapped off of the door and went slack, allowing a certain gray alien-like monster to stomp into the room. Malta's back was to it, but she didn't have to see it to know that it was steadily decreasing the space between them. Italy was quaking in his boots as he latched onto Canada's arm, looking extremely close to screaming with fright.

_That is right. He has not seen it before… Poor Ita._

"Well then. Everyone…" Malta lowered her voice dramatically as she lifted her meat cleaver, holding the handle in two hands. "…_Good luck_." In one movement she spun around and aimed a powerful swing at the Thing's face, using her momentum to slide back a few feet from it. "Run, now!"

One by one, four of the nations took off out the door and away from the carnage that was doomed to take place at any given moment. No one had complete control of their own bodies. Instinct drove them, some out the door, others toward the Thing; instinct drove them all slowly closer to the point of no return.

-x-

_We will get out of here…together._

_Every one of us has a reason to live on._

_A thing to fight for and to protect._

_And a secret to be kept…_

**[1]**

-x-

After what seemed like ages of running and hiding silently within the darkened white walls of the piano room, Canada and Italy could finally take a breath and be sure that the Thing wasn't going to follow them. The two stood from their previous positions in the corner and wandered into the middle of the room, their gazes mostly fixed on the piano.

"Okay," Canada started, wringing his hands and silently relishing the chance to be in charge for once, "we'll examine this room before the others get here."

"Ve~ Okay! …But what about the piano?"

Italy's question caught Canada off guard. "What do you mean?" Taking a few steps to glance over the Italian's shoulder, he could finally see what he had been talking about. It wasn't an ordinary piano, that's for sure. On the top edges of the keys were colored numerals, strategically placed so that no one would ever accidentally rub them away. The four colors were red, yellow, green, and blue, with no particular order or pattern connecting them. The keys were numbered like this:

**235147283695**

Canada bent over a little to get a better view of the numbers, smiling graciously at the nation beside him. "Oh, I see now. The keys are numbered… Good work, Italy! Maybe it's a clue of some sort."

"Ve~ I don't know…" Italy sounded really unsure of himself for some reason, although the tone quickly vanished when he supplied his next comment. "Was there something we needed numbers for?"

"I'm not sure either." _Numbers… They must be a code for something. Something that uses numbers… Numbers… Puzzles… Security, too. So, a security breach…but this house isn't that high-tech, so…a safe, or something…_ Canada pushed back his thoughts when he noticed Italy's attention wandering to the pure-white bookshelves across the room. "Hey Italy, can you check all of these books while I go to the room next door? I'll be back in a moment. I just want to leaf through the books there, since there are so many of them. Just stay right here."

For the smallest on moments, Italy paused. He seemed different somehow in that one moment; his gaze was distant, like he could see something that no one else could… Before Canada could mention it and almost before he even noticed, the old Italy was back. "Ve~ Okie dokie! Be careful, Canada!"

It was nice to have someone ask for you to be careful. With a silent tilt of the head, Canada turned on his heel and slipped out of the room, leaving the vulnerable Italian alone and unprotected.

Italy started scanning the titles of the books lined up on the shelves, but paused. _…Oh, what was I thinking about, again? I forgot it when I talked to Canada…_ He thought he saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye, and the thoughts returned to him, but he ignored them both, screwing his eyes shut against the flash. _Ignore it, Italia. Just ignore it._

To ward away the uncomfortable silence that drifted around him, Italy started rambling to himself about whatever he could think of at that moment, looking over the bookshelves for anything of importance. Since he found nothing, he seated himself at the piano bench and looked at the keys. Just when he started wondering where the others happened to be at the moment, he heard the sound of a door opening and closing behind him, and the sound of light footsteps soon after. He couldn't remember when he had ever been so excited over seeing and invisible nation. "Canada! You're back!" Spinning around in his seat, he prepared himself to say something else, but his voice died in his throat.

It wasn't Canada.

It was the Thing.

And he was alone.

Italy stared up at the Thing, and the Thing stared right back. It started looking creepier with every second that passed, and the creepier it looked, the more he started to shake. He was frozen on the spot, with no weapons or friends whatsoever. He was starting to think that Canada's leaving him behind wasn't such a good idea after all. The moment suddenly got to him, and he did the only thing he could think of: he dove under the piano and kept rambling within his mind, as if the Thing would go away if he got quiet.

_Please don't kill me! I'm too young to die! And what if I don't die but I'm just mortally wounded and forced to lay there in misery in a pool of my own blood? PLEASE, I'll do anything! Well I mean, with in reason! I DON'T WANT TO DIEEEEEEEE!_

There was silence; infinite silence. The suspense of it all nearly killed the poor Italian, who couldn't possibly know how cruel and strong this enemy could be. Thousands of scenarios played back in his mind; some seemed completely improbable, while others felt real, familiar…

"_YoU… WOn't… ESc…aPe…"_

More silence. Italy hadn't realized that he'd shut his eyes until that very moment. Everything was dark. The darkness and the silence alone were enough to drive him – or anyone, for that matter – absolutely crazy.

…_What? Why hasn't it attacked me yet? Maybe it's the piano…_

"Italy!"

Italy instinctively sat up, wincing when his head connected with the bottom of the piano. It took him a second to recognize the voice, but as soon as he did, he let out a sigh of relief. "Canada! You're back~!"

The North American nation was currently standing beside the piano bench that protected Italy's hiding place, bending over to help his group partner to his feet. "You scared me! Did something happen when I left?"

_That's right… The flow of time is strange, so he didn't run into it…_ Italy forced himself to stop shaking, stuffing his hands into his pockets to keep from fidgeting. "Ve~ Well…" Canada was listening carefully, not willing to interrupt the story. _He's seen it before…but even so…_ "My head hurts. I-I don't think that monster will be coming to this room for a while… That's all I'm going to say."

The room was safe – that was the inference that he was making. But somehow, he knew. He knew the truth. He could see. He could see the memories as if they were his own.

But most of all, he could see the red.

-x-

_**Survivors: 7**_

_**Missing: 6**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: ****Uber**** successful cliffhanger suspenseful ending! :D I love torturing you guys like that. Well, let's get on to the next groups…in chapter 14!**

**[1] – This quote © mieulinhtu on DeviantArt. ****Sorry, I had to use it. ^j^**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: To malta-chan765… You're welcome. :D**

**Chapter Fourteen**

_**To recap**__: Malta found the majority of the Allies fighting the Thing in the kitchen, and Yugoslavia found Italy waiting for his three Axis friends in the foyer. They all gathered again within the fireplace room, which was quickly broken into by the Thing. The nations split up into three groups to scour the house for any kinds of clues that they could find. Italy and Canada found nothing, although Italy discovered something very odd about the Thing when it cornered him within the piano room._

_Meanwhile…_

-x-

The fireplace room was nearly devoid of people now, save for a select few who dared to stare the Thing in the face and force it to apologize for the pain it had already caused them. These select few were none other than Malta, China, and Russia, standing side-by-side between the Thing and the door. Each nation had their respective weapon at the ready as they engaged in the stare-off with the one thing they despised the most. The faint sound of a ticking clock provided background music for the battle to come.

"Everyone has escaped, aru."

_Way to go, Captain Obvious._ Malta was fed up of Steve messing with her friends and co-workers. Not only did it do something to Andorra – she didn't even want to think about the possibilities – it also made France and America go missing, along with three out of the four in the Axis group. _Including Prussia._ Her grip on her knife tightened until her knuckles went white. "Yeah, everyone except us."

"It's not often the three of us get to do something together," Russia commented from Malta's right, pulling his pipe-sword from its sheath. "This is going to be kinda fun~!"

One thought went through both China's and Malta's minds. _I'm never doing this again (aru)._

Malta didn't let her minor contempt show. "We've at least got to work together a little more…" _What's the word?_ "…harmoniously."

Swinging his wok in one hand, China rolled his eyes slightly. "If you want the three of us to be all chummy and smiley, I have a sinking feeling…"

"Oh, you know what I mean!"

Russia questioned, "Malta, can't you just beat the Thing with that amazing technique you used before?"

"Oh. About that…" Malta never moved her eyes from the Thing's, even as she chuckled sheepishly. "…I was under the impression that this was America's fault, and I got a little angry at him. It was the last straw, and that was the result. Now that I know Steve isn't Tony, I can't do it anymore. My anger is totally gone."

Smiling casually, Russia knew exactly what to say to get Malta's anger to return. "Imagine it ate your strawberries."

That certainly did it. Malta froze, narrowed her eyes at the Thing, and shouted, "Let's go!" before leaping into action.

The three became a fighting force to be reckoned with, slashing and slamming their weapons into the Thing's body at a frightening speed. Adrenaline coursed through their veins, fueling their quest for victory and revenge. One by one, they each showcased their impressive special attacks in attempt to disarm and weaken the creature: Malta manipulated her knife into the powerful _Maltese Cross_; China showed off his martial arts skills using _Eight Extremities Fist_; Russia utilized the might of the Siberian cold for his attack _Kolkhoze_. All in all, they worked pretty well, although the Thing was still up and standing even after several minutes of this torture. If anything, it seemed just as strong as it did then it first crashed through the door.

"_YoU… WOn't… ESc…aPe…"_

The Thing was preparing for its next attack, the frightening red aura building around its body. Malta had seen that attack before, and the other probably had too, so she had to think fast. Using her friends – _Could I really call them that?_ – as a distraction, she slipped around behind the Thing and tackled it, the floorboards creaking under feet as she leaped up and clung to its back. The Thing let out a furious cry, twisting around in attempt to rid itself of the annoying pest just out of its reach. All it did was give Malta a clear shot in with her knife to its forehead. It dropped to the ground and dissolve under her feet.

Just like that.

China backed away from where the Thing used to be laying, smiling with the warm feeling of success. "We won't lose a second time! But it's weird that it disappears like that… We can't tell whether we won or not, aru."

"Well at least it's not leaving its blood and stuff behind," Malta reasoned, half-collapsing against one of the chairs at the table. Her adrenaline rush was spent, and the blood slowly seeping out from her shoulder wasn't helping.

Russia chuckled lightly, although it sounded more creepy to his companions than anything. "Not quite. Maybe this will never and it'll keep appearing. It's getting really tiring…"

"I'll say." Malta sucked in a breath, ignoring Russia as he wandered off to the back of the room. "You guys aren't hurt, are you?"

"Aiyah, I'm fine."

"_Da_. I am too."

"Good. Your backup was perfect." Malta ignored the annoyed looks she received when she mentioned _backup_. "Steve has also grown stronger compared to before. I would've had no chance if I fought alone. …Thanks for your help."

China nodded, a previous thought returning to his mind. "…Why were Yugoslavia's notes in the fireplace anyway?"

"Oh, that. She said she got cold in the night and threw them in because we didn't have much firewood left. They weren't that important anyway, so she threw them in."

Something didn't see right about that explanation, but before China could respond, the room was filled with the sound of breaking glass and bending metal. The sounds were coming from Russia, who was holding his pipe in one hand and the mangled remains of a bronze-colored clock in the other. The Eurasian nation let out a soft "ah" once the deed was done.

Malta spun around to face the sound, maneuvering herself around the table to get a closer look. "What's the matter, Russia?"

"There was this clock that was moving like crazy…" Russia gestured to the clock to make sure the two knew what he was talking about. "I'm sorry. The _tick-tock_ was too loud, so I broke it with my pipe."

"…A clock?" A flash of bright orange obscured Malta's vision. She would have tried to do something about it, but it disappeared just as fast as it came.

"I'm sorry if it was some kind of clue, but it really was so loud…"

Malta nodded and gave him a smile that silently said _it's okay_. "A clock… Now that you mention it, we can't tell what time it is in this place. Our watches are all screwed up."

"That's really strange," China mused, glancing at his watch as he spoke. "Even though we came here ahead of your group, you've been here longer. …It's 11:42 on my watch."

Russia placed the clock remains into the drawer he found them in and turned his gaze to his own wrist. "Huh? But mine is showing the same time as yours, China."

"What? That wasn't supposed to…" Malta dug into her pocket and fished out her phone, focusing on the clock at the top of the screen. "Oh! I-it's 11:42 on mine, too! But it was 6 o'clock just a moment ago…"

A thoughtful expression passing over his face, Russia commented, "Do you think maybe it's because I broke the clock?"

China sat down in the vacant chair that Malta had left behind, gently rubbing a particularly nasty bruise on his side. "That's possible, aru. At least in this room, the time is right. Maybe we can get the flow of time back to normal is we break the clocks."

"Alright! Then we'll break the clocks in every single room we get in! If we do that, maybe…" Malta trailed off, not sure what she was going to say next. "…Maybe…we can help…France and…America…and the others… Right?"

Her statement was cut off by the sudden blast of distinctively Slavic-sounding music filling the space, making everyone flinch and reach back for their weapons. When they finally realized that it was coming from Russia's pocket, they relaxed a little.

"Russia, it's your cell phone," China muttered, barely loud enough to be heard over the (annoying) ring tone of Russia's.

Slightly shocked, Russia grabbed his phone and looked at the screen; sure enough, he had an incoming call. "Amazing~! As soon as the time got right, the phone also began to work – or not. The antenna isn't up. Anyway, I'm going to answer it. And I'll make it so that the both of you can hear it, too." He punched the **send **button and put the phone on speaker so that the person on the other end could be heard by everyone present. "_Privet_?" **[1]**

There was silence on the other end, as if the caller had to decide what they were going to say. After a few suspenseful seconds of waiting, a single sound was heard: the delicate _ting_ of some kind of instrument. Directly afterward, the line went dead.

Russia tried to speak above the dial tone, which seemed to be growing steadily louder (and more obnoxious) with each passing second. "…Looks like it got cut off."

"It's a bug, aru!"

The others didn't really understand what China meant by that, but Malta spoke up anyway. "I've never heard of a _phone bug_… What we just heard was a piano. It has to be."

_A piano…_ "Anyway, we have nothing else to do, so let's go back to Canada, _da_?"

"Yeah." Malta sighed with exhaustion. "If everything goes well, Yugo and England should be able to join us there. Let's just get everything back in order here and hurry."

If she had been filming this, Malta would have chosen that moment to add a tidying-up montage in editing. It took mere minutes to clear up the furniture fragments and grab their weapons from their places on top of the table. Tired of waiting any longer, the three started for the door, with the one female in their party pausing to sling Yugoslavia's bag over her shoulder. It felt a little heavier than she expected. _What does she have in here…?_ Ignoring her thoughts, Malta shrugged them off and diligently followed her friends in their search for answers – and Canada.

_**-x-**_

It seemed like ages since they had started running. There was no possible way that it could have only been a few seconds; that just wasn't long enough. And even as the two paused in the third floor corridor with their backs to the wall, desperately sucking in air, they listened to the faint sounds of things crashing into each other in the battle below their feet. The only way they knew how much time had passed was by their hammering heartbeats and their slowly steadying breaths. In a moment, all was quiet. All was calm.

It took about that long for Yugoslavia to start having doubts about her friend's ability to fight the Thing. Sure, Malta was a pretty good fighter, but that Thing was powerful. It could probably rip the poor girl to shreds without even thinking about it. She wiped her sweat-covered forehead on her sleeve and started rubbing her hands together, the anxiety almost too much for her. "I-it looked a little bigger than before. Do you think so? Maybe w-we should go back to help them…"

"They'll be fine," England reassured, pressing a comforting hand onto Yugoslavia's shoulder. He too was out of breath, but he still managed to keep his voice steady as his adrenaline started to recede. "First, we must accomplish the mission that was given to us. Malta can take care of herself. We have to fully understand this house so that we can find a way out sooner."

She had to take a deep breath to calm her wild mind, but she quickly accepted the facts given to her. "…Alright. I do not want to run into that Thing again anyway. I would probably run away again."

England offered her a soft smile. If the other nations had been there at that particular moment, he would have ended up regretting the gesture – France would never let him live it down, that's for sure. "Everything is going to be okay. Anyway, let's search these rooms once more and then…report to Canada and the others." Only receiving a faint nod in response, England led Yugoslavia through the third floor, quickly checking each shelf as they passed. There was nothing of very much importance in any of them – unless an entire shelf dedicated to Japanese folklore counted as _important_ – so they quickly made their way downstairs. They skipped over the second floor – no way were they going to check the rooms with a battle going on only a wall away – and wandered through the first floor. After several minutes of searching, they had looked in every nook and cranny possible in the kitchen and several of the rooms lining the corridor. The only rooms left now were the bathroom and the hall beside the stairs. (They were originally going to search the hall, but Yugoslavia had to _go_ anyway, so they decided not to make a second trip.)

"I'll be right outside the door," England stated as Yugoslavia slipped inside. "If that Thing shows up out here, stay inside no matter what, alright?"

Yugoslavia managed a faint smile of amusement. "Alright." She shut and locked the door behind her, turning around to get a good look at the room.

She didn't expect to see the figure standing only ten feet away.

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! :D I thought I would never get this chapter done, because of the crazy fight scene that I kept procrastinating on. But whatever! I hope I have made many of you flip out and get (a tiny bit) angry at me for leaving you in suspense like that. I like to make my fans spazz. :)  
By the way, I'm not going to be writing over the weekend since I'm going on a trip, so this'll be the last update probably before Wednesday, at least. Don't worry, I'm not giving up on this. ^j^**

**[1] – **_**Privet**_** means **_**hello**_** in Russian.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

_**To recap:**__ ...Oh, you know what's going on. A whole bunch of crap is going down. The Thing is dead, Russia's phone is spazzing, and Yugoslavia just can't seem to stop thinking about – Oh, I won't spoil the surprise like that. Now stop reading this stupid, useless recap and get on with the story, worthy readers!_

-x-

The first floor bathroom was quite dark, with only one light source doing the job of making the objects within visible to the human eye. That's why when Yugoslavia froze and stared at the suspiciously human-like figure hunched over the sink, she wasn't sure what to expect. She took a moment to flip out her switchblade and consider the situation.

_This can not be the Thing… Malta and the others were just fighting with it upstairs! And it was bigger than this…right? Certainly it would not keep growing and then shrink down to less than its original size…right?_

She couldn't find the words to say at the moment. Her entire brain was dedicated to figuring out who or what this figure was, and how it had managed to get there in the first place. However, she just couldn't seem to feel surprised when the figure turned to face her, looked her in the eyes, and _kesesesesese_-ed right in her face.

Now that the figure actually faced the light, she could see it more clearly. It looked more human then alien-like, which seemed odd for just a moment before she noticed its complexion. It was tan instead of gray, and a really light tan at that; it could've been better described as white. Its skin was similar in color to its hair: silvery-white, almost luminescent in the faint light; with the paleness of the rest of it, she was shocked when it turned its head and set its blood-red eyes on her.

Yugoslavia narrowed her eyes questioningly. _Of course! It makes sense now. But how…why…?_ "…Prussia?"

Amused by her confusion, her fellow ex-nation chuckled to himself. "_Hallo, Jugoslawien_! Long time no see!" Prussia paused, though, when he realized a vital piece of information. "…What're you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question." Yugoslavia folded her hands, hoping he didn't see her reaching for her knife in her pocket. "What is the cup for?"

Prussia looked down at his hands. Sure enough, he was holding a plastic drinking cup, half-filled with suspicious-looking water. At least judging by the color, it was water. "What, this thing? I was getting Ita something to drink, 'cuz he looked really freaked out once West and Japan split up from us. I looked on the second floor, but there wasn't a bathroom up there –"

_The second floor? How is that possible? I was up there the entire time? Or maybe…_

"– so I came back down here and found this one!"

"Italy does not need water anymore," Yugoslavia reassured, glancing around her as if she expected the real Thing to pop out at any given moment. "He is okay now. He is safe with Canada and the others on the third floor. Malta should be up there by now…"

Prussia looked truly surprised for the first time in a long time. "What? The awesome one is here? Did she come with you? …There's a third floor?!"

"I will explain later. Right now, I have to do something." Before Prussia could respond, Yugoslavia opened the bathroom door and forced him out, quietly slamming it behind him and locking him out of the room.

For a moment, Prussia just stood there, trying to figure out what had just happened and why in the world his fellow ex-nation was at the house at all. _Funny, I thought she was staying at the meeting place with the awesome one and their other friend…_ He glanced to his right and saw England casually leaning against the wall, staring at him like he'd just grown another head. "'Sup, unawesome one?"

The Brit just kept staring, unsure of exactly how to respond, then shook his head incredulously. "I can't believe it was _you_," he muttered, barely loud enough for Prussia to hear.

"What's so wrong with me? You should be honored to be in the presence of the awesome me! Kesesesesese~!"

An awkward silence forced its way into their brief conversation, causing them both to look away and find their own way to entertain themselves for the time being. Within moments, the sound of a flushing toilet reverberated around them; it took exactly one minute after that for a certain ex-nation to reappear in the doorway, nonchalantly wiping her hands on the back of her jacket.

"…not enough time to take Prussia upstairs…" Yugoslavia was mumbling to herself, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. "…but he can not go by himself…" She finally returned her focus to the two male nations standing at her side. "…Well, I suppose that Prussia can accompany us to examine the first floor. Then we can all return to the piano room together. No one can go alone?"

Prussia threw her an annoyed look. "What? Why not?"

"I'll explain on the way," England interjected, almost sensing Yugoslavia's disinclination to explain the situation. He met her eyes for just a second before turning away from the bathroom and starting in the direction of the foyer. "Follow me."

-x-

**Prussia joined the party!**

-x-

No one was surprised when they discovered that the key that Yugoslavia had previously found actually fit into the one locked door they had yet to check. Said door was located at the end of a short corridor within a large Japanese-style room without an obvious purpose. ("It's a dojo," Prussia had said, chuckling to himself all the while. "That's what the D stands for – obviously!" Of course, the others hadn't really listened to him.) The door led to a very similar-looking room, with a large carpeted area, a second door just beyond, and a set of Japanese screens. After taking a brief look around, the group split up into two groups to scour the place for clues – Yugoslavia left the two male nations on their own, presumably so that she didn't have to hear England's breakdown of the whole situation. She could hear their voices across the room, but forced them away as she wandered toward the carpet.

There was nothing actually on the carpet; the surface was completely clean as well, which was surprising considering the age of the house. It could not have been here for less than ten years… The screens looked slightly suspicious, though. Somehow, she just knew that they had something to hide – whether it was intuition or just plain guessing, she wasn't sure. She ran her eyes along the edges of the screens, scanning for anything out of the ordinary…

Meanwhile, England was trying to explain the concept of the Thing to Prussia while sifting through the contents of a table in the corner, but he just wouldn't hear it. "That's so unawesome of you," the ex-nation boasted, not bothering to hide his contempt. "There's no way this place is actually haunted! You've been eating too many rotten scones, _Angleterre_~!"

From the look on England's face, he was just about ready to punch him into next week. "Why you –"

"I found something!" It was a good thing that Yugoslavia had chosen that moment to make her announcement, otherwise she would've had a vicious brawl on her hands. She looked down at the item of her discovery as her companions treaded across the carpet to her place kneeling beside the screens. She held the object up so that they could see it.

"…It's a piece of paper," Prussia stated blankly.

"Not just a piece of paper. It is similar to the one Andorra found earlier." She handed it to England for him to examine it. Sure enough, it contained two rectangles, just like the other paper; however, these were yellow and red, with a similar tear across one side.

"Hmm…" England turned it over to see if there was anything on the back, but there was only white. "I wonder what it is… Maybe it's –"

_**Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome…**_

The sound of annoying chanting was coming from Prussia's pocket, where his cell phone was buzzing and belting out the lyrics to a particularly narcissistic song called _I'm Awesome_. **[1]** He jumped slightly at the sudden noise, fumbling around in his pocket before finally wrapping his hand around the object of the annoyance.

_That is odd… Our phones get no signal here. How can this be?_

_**I don't necessarily have to be here for this, I'm gonna keep the headphones though~**_

"Stupid phone," Prussia mumbled, practically punching the contraption to unlock the screen and answer the call. He didn't even bother to notice that it was a number-withheld call.

_**Mother –**_

"Hallo?"

For a moment, silence. The "awesome" ex-nation was glaring at the wall in front of him, his crimson eyes unfocused as he pressed the phone to his ear. He looked just about ready to start yelling at the person on the other end for prank calling him when his thoughts were interrupted by a quiet _tink_. The sound was followed by the dial tone. Dead. He took it off of his ear and stared at the darkened screen. "…What?"

"What happened?" Yugoslavia pressed, knotting her hands together in slight anticipation. "Who was it?"

Prussia cursed under his breath and stuffed his phone back into his pocket again. "I'm not sure. I heard a sound and then the call was cut off." _A prank call. That's so unawesome of them._

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, England raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "A sound? Like what?"

"I dunno, a piano or somethin'. It was just one note though." Prussia paused, shaking his head in disbelief. "What the heck is this all about? You guys are all paranoid, and –"

"I'm not paranoid, you bloody git! I saw it with my own two eyes!"

"Yeah, just like you see your unawesome little fairy friends."

"How _dare_ you! They're not just –"

"Prussia?" The sound of Yugoslavia's gentle voice made the other two nations stop their arguing and turn their heads toward her. For some reason, she wouldn't look Prussia in the eye. "I saw it too. You may not believe me, but I did. It attacked all of us, including Malta. We have to hurry back before anything else can happen."

That must have gotten Prussia's attention, because he suddenly got louder once she mentioned the Thing attacking Malta. "Sure thing, Yugo. We wouldn't want ya getting' upset, now, do we?" He laughed his signature _kesesesesese_ laugh, although this time it sounded forced, maybe even uncertain.

"Then it's decided," England stated, still death-glaring Prussia even as he led the two out of the room. "Let's go back to the piano room, and hurry."

_Yes. We do not want it coming after us again, do we? …No. Not while he is here._

-x-

_**Survivors: 8**_

_**Missing: 5**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: My plot has holes. DX Yeah, I realize (now) that you had to find the safe BEFORE you can get the paper, but at that point I really didn't care. *shot* **

**By the way, I cut it off so soon because he next part is this extremely long cut scene that lasts for about 13 minutes on MrEVOLVF's video, so I couldn't find a good place to cut off. Which means this next chapter is probably gonna be flipping huge. Eh, whatever.  
Also BTW, I'm also starting to use the HetaOni Let's Play series created by the hilarious Kyokoon64 on YouTube. I just thought that she should be recognized for that. ^j^**

**[1] – **_**I'm Awesome**_** is a legit song. Google it. Or not. It's really annoying.**

[hetaoni vid 7 – 6:00]

[Missing: Andorra, France, America, Germany, Japan.]


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

It was almost as if these past few hours had never even happened. You wouldn't be able to tell that there was much drama to begin with; even circling the mysterious black piano with the walls of the mansion surrounding them, petty arguments and random conversations still flitted through the air around the nations gathered in the piano room. Many were the same old topics: agreements to be made, parties to be had, celebrations to be bragged about. However, there were also several ominous questions that remained unanswered.

_Where are the missing ones?_

_Why does that Thing keep attacking us?_

_How long will we be in here?_

_What's happening to us?_

These questions and more were on the minds of most of the players of this game of survival when Yugoslavia, England, and Prussia slipped through the door and inserted themselves into the circle. Under normal circumstances, they would probably had been yelled at by Germany for being late, or by others for other stupid reasons. But today, they were greeted kindly, and everyone actually seemed pleased that they arrived at the meeting place safe and sound. (Needless to say, Malta was happy that Prussia had reappeared. In fact, everyone took a minute or two out of their conversations to watch the two start affectionately poking each other in the stomach.) They decided to finally start the meeting, with China making the first public statement.

"…and by breaking the clocks," he was saying, finishing his description of the Battle of the Fireplace Room, "we adjust the time…so it is imperative that we do this, aru."

Russia responded with a faint nod. "We've broken clocks on the second and first floors. Now, only this floor and the one above are left."

Gently taking their one piece of evidence from Yugoslavia, England gave his side of the story, if brief. "We found this scrap of paper in the Japanese-style room on the first floor. And then Prussia found a safe inside a room in the kitchen." **[1]**

"A safe?" Canada murmured from across the room. "Maybe the numbers on the keyboard…could be some kind of hint?"

Russia agreed, "Yeah, then we ca open the safe and make some progress! So, first of all…shouldn't we take a look at that scrap of paper that _Kuzen Yugoslavii_ found?"

"It looks a lot like the one that Andorra found when she was first exploring." Malta dug a second paper out of her pocket and uncrumpled it, revealing two rectangular bars with similar shapes but different colors. "They look like a pretty good match. Let's try sticking them together." She was reaching across the way for the second paper scrap when she – and everyone else – was bombarded with the sudden screaming notes of the opening to _O Canada_. Everyone flinched back from surprise, including the person from who the sound was the loudest.

_Eh?! I swear my phone was on silent before we even got here!_ "S…sorry, it's my cell phone," Canada stuttered, digging in his pocket and tugging at the contraption buried deep in the bottom.

"Again? Russia's also rang earlier, aru."

Prussia rested his elbow casually on Malta's shoulder, taking into account the shortness of the island country. "Same here! We heard a piano!"

Canada bit his tongue in confusion. _A piano? …But Italy was in here the whole time, and he didn't say anything about phone calls. Maybe he knows something…_ "…Well anyway, I'll answer it. I'll keep it on speaker so that you all can hear too." He touched the send button and held the phone in the air close to him, answering with a single word. "Hello?"

Silence. What was up with silence in this place? It was almost like the person on the other end was mocking them, trying to make them confused and paranoid so that they would fail whatever challenges they would have to face next. It didn't last long, though, because it was warded away by the gentle _ting_ of a single note, and then the steady monotonous sound of a dial tone.

Dead.

"It really was a piano," Italy murmured, clasping his hands together as if to hide the nervous shaking that fell upon him.

Malta stated, "But it was a different note from the one that Russia heard. Prussia, what about you?"

"Yep, it was different. I don't remember it very well though." The albino showed no signs of anxiety at all – not surprising, considering that he was the only one who hadn't yet seen "Steve" even once.

"Only one note. That's the only thing in common. But there's no doubt that they're a big hint." England exchanged glances with several of the nations surrounding him. "We should all solve this one by one."

"Right," China interjected. "If we do that, we'll soon be able to meet America and France. …Though they'll probably get mad at us for taking so long, aru."

Something in the room changed when he said those last two sentences. The tension within the walls of the piano room easily skyrocketed, leaving the eight people remaining to stand there in shock without knowing exactly why. At that moment, all that anyone knew was that something was very, very wrong.

Italy was the one who spoke up first. "…Eh? What?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" England pushed away this thoughts and threw China a glare.

China paused, starting to look a little flustered by whatever had just happened. "What? Did I say something wrong?" He glanced at Russia, but the Eurasian nation just offered a shrug.

"Well, you did say _something wrong_… Was it on purpose?" Malta narrowed her eyes slightly. "I mean, I was just thinking…poor Andorra."

"And Germany," Italy added, too quiet for anyone around him to hear.

Prussia took his elbow off of Malta's shoulder and stood up straight, seriousness across his face. "Yeah, why'd you say France and America, China? The ones we have to find are West and Andorra, right? Why'd you say America?"

Canada was struggling to keep up with the changing stories. "What?! What about Japan?"

"What do you mean, _what about Japan?_ Aren't we here to save America? Germany and Japan didn't even come here!" England stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep himself from accidentally strangling anyone out of pure rage.

Russia gave the statements some thught, then offered his own two cents. "Only…Amerika? No, that's not right. We – Well, Amerika said at the meeting place that he wanted to come… Sunflower said that she wanted to come, so I came here with them…"

"Wait…" Canada crossed his arms over his chest, thinking that maybe the small action would keep him from exploding with confusion. "Russia, you came here with me and the other Allies, remember? America didn't come, and Andorra got separated from Malta and the others…"

China groaned inwardly. "You guys…"

England hissed, "Wait! Wasn't America the only one who disappeared? Why do you keep bringing those two up?"

Prussia shook his head. "What the heck is going on?"

No one was able to answer that, so the group disbanded and started their own conversations, trying to sort out whatever was happening and identify the correct memory. Somehow, Malta was the only one who had ended up without a group – Prussia was all but forcing Canada to explain everything to him, Yugoslavia was saying something to England, and she didn't really have any other friends in the room at the time. Shrugging off the thought, she wandered back to the pristine white bookshelves pressed against the far wall, sifting through the contents of a matching chest of drawers beside them. There wasn't anything interesting, though, besides a big, dusty Bible and…

"Aha," she said to herself, running her thumb over the grimy glass plate covering the face of the aged bronze-tinted clock. It emanated an annoying tick, tick, tick that seemed to echo across the room in an ominous chorus of paranoia. "I knew there was a pattern to this…" _It's kinda weird, though. I should probably break it as soon as possible…_ Without further ado, she took her meat cleaver in one hand and brought it down hard onto the clock's body, shattering the glass and splitting the metal casing neatly in half. She noticed slight movement in the corner of her eye – the others had heard – but she ignored it. There. One more to –

Before she could finish her internal statement, another flash of bright orange attacked her eyes, appearing out of nowhere from the air around her. This time, it lasted longer, slowly engulfing her vision until it was all she could see. What? But…there's nothing orange in here! The shocked voices of those around her became increasingly distant until they became only an afterthought.

Then, everything went white.

-x-

"Here! It's here! Just like the rumors said!"

_What? I…thought America had…disappeared…_

Malta blinked open her eyes, unsure of exactly what was happening. She found herself standing beside the door of the mansion. Outside. In the spotted sunlight of a cloudy afternoon. But something wasn't right – a great many somethings, in fact. Everything around her was painted in sickly shades of orange like an old sepia photograph. On the path in front of her were America, herself, and Germany, all looking up at the impressive height of the mansion just inches behind her back. America was the one who had spoken; he looked just as excited as he did when he found out a McDonald's was opening down the street from the meeting place.

_Huh? Where am I? What…what's going on? _Malta tried to speak or move, but her voice and body refused to follow her brain's orders. All she could do was stand and watch. _Wait…this must be a memory or something…_

"America," Germany retorted sharply, "keep it down a little, will you?"

America gave the German his best pouty face and turned to the Maltese girl at his left. "I'm not doing anything wrong! Right, Malta?!"

_Yeah, this must be it. It was actually America and Germany who came here with me. We said that, and then we came in, and then… _

Suddenly, the scene changed, and she was whisked unwillingly along through the flow of time. Now, she was back at the front of the mansion, but this time she – the Malta in the memory – was here with only England. They appeared to both be worried about something, although she couldn't make it out until the world around her cleared up.

"…this it?" England was saying, glancing skeptically at the windows facing the mansion's front lawn. "Are Y and Andorra really in this place?"

The memory Malta followed his gaze. "Yep, this is the place. I dunno why they'd come here, though."

England threw a sidelong glance at the island nation. "…You're thinking, _this sucks_, aren't you?"

Her face wiped of all emotion, the memory Malta responded with the most honest, straightforward answer she could muster. "Yep."

_No, that wasn't it… I came here with England! Andorra and Yugo went ahead, and we decided to pick them up, so… _Malta paused, staring at the two figures standing in front of her. _…No. This isn't it. This memory is wrong…_

Another sudden orange glare gave way to a third memory. Malta didn't have time to think about it for very long before the new cast of characters started talking.

"So, this is the haunted mansion that America told us about?" France was standing to the memory Malta's right, looking at her in that strange way that he looks at all females (and some males).

The memory Malta only glared back. "Go away, psycho."

China sat against the wall in front of the two of them, acting as if the whole situation was completely normal. "That's right! Let's hide before they get here and give them a fright, aru!"

Both Maltas stiffened, although the unmoving one wasn't sure why. The other gave a very simple explanation. "…Are you sure, China? I mean, even if they didn't do the same to get back at you…and even if it weren't this mansion…I don't think that would be right. Yugo would panic for sure…"

His head suddenly snapping up, China leaped to his feet, his gaze focused on something past his companions' shoulders. "It's now or never! You guys get ready! They're coming this way!"

"Pff…" France wasn't very in on the idea, to say the least. "Wouldn't it be nicer if we just made something to eat together~?"

_This one's wrong too…or is it?_ Malta was having a little trouble piecing everything together. _No, maybe it isn't wrong, but… Nope, it's wrong. This isn't what happened…_

She was starting to notice that every time she saw the orange flash and the weird sepia color scheme, the memory would be one that never really happened – although she couldn't be sure of why the facts were getting jumbled up like this in the first place. So when she saw it happen again, she was getting pretty ticked off. All she wanted at that point was some water and a little time to herself to think about this craziness.

"It is really here. It is so much bigger than I expected…"

_Yugo?_ Sure enough, the quiet ex-nation was one of the three figures now standing in the presence of the unmoving Malta, along with a clone of herself and a certain dark-haired Andorran friend of hers.

The memory Malta's gaze was firmly set on the outer walls of the mansion, as if she expected it to do something like disappear or talk back at any given moment. "I thought it was just a rumor… I never thought we would actually find it!"

"It has such a desolate feel," Andorra commented bluntly. "Not bad!"

Yugoslavia turned her eyes toward Andorra. "Desolate? Is that how you would describe it, Andorra?"

"Hey, don't judge me, Yugo."

_Oh… This memory…it must be…_

Malta couldn't finish the statement in her mind. She could only watch her friends' mouths move for a nanosecond before the world faded to black.

**A/N: I know I told malta-chan765 that I would include the next part in this chapter, but I changed my mind. :D *troll face* I also took out what was supposed to be the fourth memory in the game because all of this memory-writing stuff was getting tedious. I hope you don't mind.  
PS, I lost The Game. ^j^ (If you don't know what I'm talking about, DO NOT GOOGLE IT. The Game will ruin your life forever.)  
[1] – I know, I technically didn't write this part. Whatever. *shot***


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I wrote a really stupid beginning to this on my first try. I was gonna scrap it, but then I thought, **_**Why not keep it so that everyone else can see my stupidity too?**_** :D Keep in mind that I wrote this at about 9:30 at night the other day and I was tired from the millions of things I had to do that day.**

**Deleted Scene: Several Ways to Skin a Cat**

**It is said that there's more than one way to skin a cat. I, personally, don't see the logical sense in skinning a cat unless the one doing the skinning is in a life or death situation involving starvation or a sudden increase in the price of cat pelts. Either way, it doesn't seem fun. Of course, this is merely a proverb and an idiom of uncertain origin, so I wouldn't recommend actually trying it. What I'm trying to say is that this proverb was basically what Prussia was thinking when he witnessed the island nation freeze suddenly and drop to the floor like a bag of rocks.**

**There's more than one way to wake up a Malta.**

**[End scene.]**

**Chapter Seventeen**

_I… I can't see anything… Anything but the dark…_

"Hey, Malta!"

_SLAP._

"Wake up, awesome one!"

_SLAP, SLAP._

"Open your eyes!"

…_SPLASH._

Forced back into the world of the living by the burn of the liquid flowing down her windpipe, Malta flashed open her eyes, half-blinded by the harsh light shining from directly above. She noticed a shadow fall over her face, but it was forgotten when she turned to the side and proceeded to violently retch and choke out the remaining liquid on the way to her lungs. She spit it out a second later, noticing it tasted oddly familiar in a very sickening way.

An arm made its way around her shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position. She was about to ask for the identity of the arm's owner, but was cut off by the voice directly to her right, confirming her suspicions. "You alright, awesome one?"

Malta attempted a nod, taking a moment to find her voice. It was scratchy and weak, but it was still there. "Wha… What happened…?"

"Well," Prussia began, hauling her to her feet with his arm still behind her, "you broke that clock and passed out from something. The awesome me caught you, of course. A few of the others went downstairs to get some water to wake you up!" His smug face was indescribable, although it didn't seem like his regular look of narcissism, somehow…

Blinking several times to acclimate herself to the world around her, Malta examined her surroundings. She had been previously lying on the floor beside the wall farthest from the piano, and was now standing and leaning against the same wall. The majority of the nations were either talking amongst themselves or gathered around a pair of figures in the corner. Looking past their shoulders, she saw Italy slumped against the wall and Yugoslavia sitting beside him, fanning his face with her journal, a serious and nervous expression on her face. "…Italy?"

"Oh yeah. Ita passed out cold just a second after the others left. Yugo's over there trying to wake him up. Don't worry," he added, flashing her a smile, "you didn't miss anything."

Malta chuckled a little, but her eyes never left Yugoslavia. Her friend had Italy's head gently resting against her shoulder, constantly bombarded by what little cool air she could make using only an old leather journal. She seemed truly worried and concerned for the poor Italian; he even had a faint expression of stress himself, a shocking sight to anyone who knows his true self. It was said that absolutely nothing could possibly stress Italy Veneziano. …So why was that changing now?

"Oh, Malta's awake?" Canada was seated at the piano bench pulled out from the piano, examining the two scraps of paper previously found by other nations. "That's good. I was just thinking… I was thinking that maybe these papers could be a hint to some kind of hidden passage…"

Malta snorted, "So now you guys are trying to decipher that password?" _Way to change priorities there, Canadia._

"Pretty much." Many of the chattering nations inserted themselves into the conversation, including Russia. "It looks like everyone decided that the other problem was too difficult and that we should first solve this, open the safe, and find out what's inside… And then give it some careful thought."

China, now standing to Malta's left, started to nod but paused for the briefest of moments. "Wait. Then someone's phone should have rung one more time. Shouldn't we wait for –?"

"How can our phones even get calls if we're out of range?" England retorted, his hands folded together in front of him as he glared with confusion at the air. "Besides, we don't even know who has been calling us. Should we blindly trust the hints they give us?"

_Yes. Always._

No one could respond at the time, but they actually didn't have to. A few faint groans punctuated the conversation and turned everyone's eyes to the two nations sitting against the wall. Italy, after several minutes of unconsciousness, was gently rubbing his temple and squinting in attempt to see the people around him. "…Ve?"

"Is that Italy?" Canada rose from his seat and kneeled down beside Yugoslavia and Italy, speaking in a quiet, comforting tone. "Italy, are you okay? Do you want some water?"

For a moment, there was absolutely no sound but the roar of blood in everyone's ears. The poor brown-haired Italian was staring back at them with wide eyes, as if he had just woken from a particularly frightening nightmare. It almost seemed like he had forgotten everything, that he no longer knew where he was or why he was unconscious. Some faint emotion passed in front of his eyes, but it was gone in an instant, followed by a lasting feeling of exhaustion. "…_S-sì_, I'm okay…" He blinked, shaking the grotesque images from his mind. _Ignorarli, Italia. __Ignorarli…_ Even with his panic gone, he was shivering violently, although no one was sure why. Yugoslavia handed him her jacket, which he thankfully wrapped around his shoulders. "_Grazie_, Yugoservier." **[1]**

"How long are we supposed to wait for this call?" Prussia pressed, crossing his arms and throwing his gaze all across the room. "I mean, surely it's not going to –"

He was interrupted by the faint sound of accordions playing a festive tune that sounded suspiciously Mediterranean. **[2]** Italy's head snapped to either side before he realized that the sound was coming from him. He took out his phone and saw the call waiting. "Oh…"

"There it is," Canada sighed, the relief noticeable in his tone. "Italy, would you like to answer it?"

Without responding to the Canadian's question, Italy pressed the phone to his ear, unsure of what would happen next "_C…ciao_?"

Silence.

_Ting._

_Beeeeeeeeeeeep…_

Everyone gathered around as Italy stared down at his phone's screen, his mind working to comprehend whatever had just happened. "…It was a piano, after all."

"Yep. Now, let's put the notes we heard together." Russia turned to the piano.

"Wait a second," Prussia ordered, his expression not changed since a moment ago. "In my awesomeness, I don't remember the note I heard. How are we supposed to figure this thing out if we don't remember?"

Malta instantly turned toward Yugoslavia, who was looking down at her hands with a distant look. "Hey Yugo! Austria taught you to play the piano, right?"

It took the quiet ex-nation a moment to force herself out of her mind and to respond to the question at hand; she hadn't said a word throughout the entire conversation. "Me?" She finally understood what she had been asked and self-consciously cleared her throat. "…Y-yes. Why?"

"Alright, we need your help with this. Since you probably know the most about music out of all of us –" If anyone took offence from Malta's statement, they didn't say anything about it. "– you can help us figure out these notes! I mean, surely it can't be _that_ hard!" **[3]**

_You jinxed it. _

_It was never easy. It never will be._

Yugoslavia still wasn't sure, but with a quick glance at England and Italy, she hauled herself to her feet and silently made her way through the crowd to the center of the room. The piano didn't look any different from before: coal-black with gold lettering spelling out _Steingraeber & Söhne_ above the keyboard itself. She ignored the stares of the other nations as she seated herself on the piano bench (now replaced in its original position) and rested her hands on the keys. She fingered them experimentally, listening intently to the instrument's crystal voice as it sang the first few bars of a complex melody that only Austria himself would recognize. **[4]** She suddenly cut herself short and nodded once. "It is very well tuned," she mused to herself more than to anyone else. Shaking herself from her thoughts, she proceeded to play a slow chromatic scale, playing each and every note that the piano could possibly create with its limited range. Whenever someone would point out the note that they heard, she would hold a finger over the key and continue with her other hand until all four notes had been…well, _noted_. **[5]**

Canada glanced over Yugoslavia's shoulder, scribbling something down onto the paper scraps in his hand. "I think I see where you're going with this, Malta." He carefully copied down numbers within their respective rectangles on the papers – a yellow five, a red two, a green nine, and a blue four – and held them up for all to see. "It's a simple password. The numbers on the keyboard match with their respective to colors to create another set of numbers."

China smiled widely. "That's amazing, aru!"

"Good deduction, Canada," England agreed, giving the forgotten North American nation a well-deserved pat on the back. "I never would have thought of that!"

Canada just chuckled nervously and shrunk back. He had always wanted attention like this, even for just a little while, but he still couldn't help but feel embarrassed by it.

"Let's head down to that safe!" Prussia suggested, not waiting for an answer before leading the way toward the door and deeper into the mystery of the mansion, Malta still leaning against his shoulder. The remaining nations followed, all chattering among themselves about the small success. Even Italy, who had been frightened and unmoving just minutes before, was now babbling and laughing, supporting himself against Canada's shoulder with Yugoslavia's jacket still around his shoulders. If any of them had thought to take a look back into the room, they would have seen a single figure sitting at the piano, their expression of careful curiosity morphed to one unrecognizable to any of the nations around them: blank, empty, cold.

With a smile that didn't hold any sign of happiness, Yugoslavia gazed down at the keyboard, where her fingertips still rested, untouched. "…So they solved it after all…" She forced herself up from her seat and turned away from the piano, brushing her dirty dark blonde bangs away from her face. "Odd. I thought I had done everything right, but it was no use, after all… I suppose I really should not have given them a hint. But…" She bit her lip to cut off the thought, locking it inside her mind and praying that she would never have to see it again. "…No, never mind. I am sure this is the right thing to do. I am not making a mistake, right? Right. _Surely_ I am not making a mistake. I am not making a mistake at all!" She turned her eyes to the floor, as if she could stare through the floor at whatever lay beneath. "I wonder if Malta and Andorra will get mad at me… Maybe Italy and _rođak Rusija_ as well…" **[6]** She laughed humorlessly. "England definitely will. He would probably hate me for not telling him…" _And then what would become of us?_

She turned toward the doorway to the piano room. No one was there to watch her talk to herself, but she had a feeling that soon there would be. At least a minute had passed since the others left her, and it wouldn't be long before someone discovered her disappearance. _Do not think about it, Jugoslavija. No one needs your worry along with their own._ "We are almost there…"

-x-

_**Survivors: 8**_

_**Missing: 5**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: SO MANY DANG AUTHOR'S NOTES.**

**[1] – Andorra told me to. :p**

**[2] – I never knew how hard it was to describe Italian music. I mean, you know what it sounds like, but you just can't describe it well enough, ya know?**

**[3] – I borrowed this idea a little from Singing Maiden's HetaOni fanfic. Because I liked it and I had no idea how to logically piece all of this together.**

**[4] – The song I had in my mind is actually called **_**Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A-flat major**_**. You can decide how that may be important later… *evil laugh***

**[5] – Yes, I know stuff about music and instruments. I actually play the flute. You jelly bro? :p But seriously, I know what I'm talking about here.**

**[6] – **_**rođak Rusija**_**: Croatian for **_**cousin Russia**_**. And **_**Jugoslavia**_** is just **_**Yugoslavia**_**. J's are pronounced like Y's in Slavic languages.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

The pantry room just beyond the kitchen was a small space, but its distinct lack of shelving and furniture made it just right for the party of eight to fit inside.

Was everyone shocked that the door wasn't locked? Yes.

Were they surprised to discover that the pantry held no food except for a few stray crumbs across the floor? No.

Did they wonder why someone would put a safe in a pantry in the first place? Yes.

Did they expect to find it behind an empty cardboard box with "SUPER TOASTS" written in black ink on the side? …No comment.

They had all managed to squeeze into the room after being led to it by Prussia, ordered around a bit by England, and being scared half to death by the sudden unconsciousness of both Malta and Italy. Now, they all watched in near-silence as Canada examined the keypad bolted to the front of the small, dark gray safe, quickly giving it the exact information that it asked for.

**5…**

**2…**

**9…**

**4.**

The inner locking mechanism gave a sudden cheery _click_ as it accepted its code and let the timid Canadian take the handle and force it to the side. "It's open," Canada confirmed as he flung the tiny door out of the way and revealed the safe's contents.

Malta looked the least confused – but at the same time, the most annoyed. "…It's a key."

"A key to what?" Russia reached past Canada and took the key in one hand, weighing it thoughtfully. Its bronze exterior was tarnished a bit on one end, but besides that it looked brand new.

Across the room, England glanced around the heads in his way in attempt to locate the speaker. "There was a locked door in the Japanese room on the first floor when we went to look around. Maybe it's a key to that."

"If not," China agreed, "there are plenty of other locked doors in this house, aru."

Russia tossed the key to England, his ever-present smile across his face. "Sounds like a plan~ Let's go!"

As the party of eight moved through the kitchen for the second time that day – _Was it really only today? It feels like so long ago… _– Canada paused, the oddest sense of déjà vu falling over him. He noticed England and Yugoslavia at the head of the group, saying words to each other that no other nation could hear. _What could they possibly be saying?_ He forced himself to ignore it and keep moving, pushing his paranoid thoughts away…for now.

-x-

"…_I don't know about this, Y." England's arm was around Yugoslavia's shoulders, steadying his steps as the two tailed the larger group of countries. A tiny rivulet of crimson fluid traced his left temple, one of the many trophies received during his first battle with the Thing. "It doesn't seem right."_

_Yugoslavia sighed faintly, her eyes distant and clouded with exhaustion. "I know, but… I have to do something. I can not just leave this alone. …You do not understand."_

"_Love, I know I don't understand, but I can at least try to help. You don't have to do this on your own. I'll go with you, if that's what you need me to do."_

_The group was disappearing fast, and Yugoslavia knew that. Even so, she turned her eyes to the floor and refused to look up again. "Maybe."_

Maybe I can finally get through this.

Maybe I can finally fix everything I have caused.

Maybe I can finally go home.

-x-

The nations quickly regrouped in the room now referred to as the dojo – after Prussia insisting on the Japanese-style room being just that **[1]** – and a head count was conducted, just to keep everything in order.

"There are eight of us here," England stated after carefully noting each of the individuals around him. "Thirteen of us originally came, so that makes...five people missing?" His calculation came out more as a question than a statement, but no one countered his logic.

Canada nodded, muttering to himself, "That sounds about right."

"We should split up," Russia said suddenly, taking a moment to glance at the room around them. "We still haven't looked in this room very much~"

Malta was quick to snatch the key from England's grasp and volunteer herself for the new mission. "I'll go explore the study! I bet there's some really cool stuff in there!"

"I'll go with her!" Mirroring his actions from a little while ago, Prussia placed his elbow on Malta's shoulder and casually leaned against the shorter nation. "Who knows what unawesome stuff could be in there~!"

"The rest of us can look around in here," China proposed, and was only answered by a handful of murmured agreements. The group scattered into all corners of the room, and that was the end of that.

Meanwhile, Prussia and Malta had wandered through the east door and chatted about nothing in particular as they found their way to the locked door. The key worked – no surprise there – and a moment later they found themselves within a large, plain room, lined with bookshelves on one wall and a huge desk stuffed into the far corner. Nothing strange about that.

"This study is lame," Prussia huffed as he examined the bookshelves. "The books ain't even in English! What is that, Spanish?"

Malta totally disregarded his comments and instead walked over to the desk. The mottled gray surface was devoid of anything except for a small layer of dust, as if someone decided to put everything away and never use it again. A single wooden chair was pulled up to the long end, half-hiding what looked like a dark lump attached to the bottom of the table. "Huh?" Curiosity already roused, she kneeled to the floor and peered into the shadows of the table for a closer look.

In fact, the lump was not a lump at all. It was a switch, a box the size of Malta's fist with a tiny metal lever pointing to the left. _Oh._ She flicked the switch before she could think about the consequences; her action was rewarded with the heavy scraping of wood against wood and the startled yell of the ex-nation behind her.

"What the crap?! Malta, what did you do?" Prussia waved the island nation over to him just as he noticed what had previously been behind the bookcase. "…Hey, there's a door there!"

Malta beamed proudly at her handiwork, reaching for the doorknob and flashing the ex-nation a cocky smile. "Gotta check for Steve first," she advised herself, opening the door and poking her head through to take a look around. It was only a little dark, so she was able to see perfectly well, even without the light switch on.

"So who is this Steve guy, exactly?" Prussia followed her inside the room, crossing his arms skeptically. "He sounds like a jerk."

"Yep." Malta glanced around the new room for a second. A set of iron bars stretched across it from one wall to the other, splitting the room neatly in half. A door was set into the bars to their left, a huge padlock linking the two together. A small cardboard box sat in the middle of the other side, its contents hidden from view. "Steve's this creepy gray alien thing that keeps trying to kill us. He's a jerk. Whenever we try to kill him, he just disappears and then reappears later…" Surprise! The key to the study fit perfectly into the padlock.

Prussia _kesesesesese_-ed in Malta's face, obviously not believing the strange stories she was telling. "Whatever, awesome one. I'll bet you a fiver **[2]** that this Steve guy doesn't exist." He didn't wait for her to respond when he grabbed the box from off the floor and folded the flaps back, staring blankly at the one object inside. "…It's just a key."

Malta looked over his shoulder, reaching into the box so that she could take a closer look at the object. Yep, it was a key: an old silverish one with a diamond-shaped bow labeled only _**B**_. "Huh. I wonder if the _B_ stands for –"

_CRACK._

Wood splinters flew across the room as the door snapped off its hinges and slammed against the wall. Both nations turned and stared at the culprit; a large shadow formed in the doorway of the tiny room. To one, it was obvious what the shadow belonged to. To the other, the only thing he could do was hyperventilate.

"Nice to see you again, Steve," Malta muttered sarcastically in the monster's direction, knowing that it was staring directly back at her.

Prussia, unable to speak, stared open-mouthed at the gigantic creature blocking their only exit. He briefly dug through his pocket and handed Malta a tenner. **[2]**

The next thing Malta knew, the Thing was barreling toward them, maneuvering itself through the iron door with ease and snarling the whole way. "Move!" she shouted to Prussia, forcing him aside as the Thing ran into the wall the pair had just been standing in front of. "Get out! I have a plan!"

The albino wasn't able to choke out an argument, so he just nodded and ducked out of the way. He made himself useful by grabbing the key from Malta's hand and moving it out of the way.

Malta looked away from Prussia and returned the Thing's menacing glare. "Come at me, bro!" Like a matador with a bull, she once again dodged the Thing's furious claws, receiving only a small nick on the arm in her efforts. "Come on, you know you want to fight me!" It charged one more time, this time fixing two claws into the wall previously being occupied by Malta's head. With a chuckle of victory, she slipped away and slammed the iron door behind her, turning the key in the padlock and successfully locking the Thing inside.

Prussia stared at the Thing as it clawed at the bars, trying to rip Malta to shreds but failing miserably. "Holy crap… That…was…AWESOME! Totally worth the money!" he started laughing, although he wasn't sure why. Maybe adrenaline? Malta didn't know either.

Half-dragging Prussia away from the iron bars, she flicked the switch on the table to move the bookcase back to where it belonged. "Well that was fun. C'mon, let's get back to the others."

The two were welcomed into the dojo with surprised glances and started chatter. Italy was actually the first one to say anything to them – not surprising, considering he seemed to be waiting outside the doorway the whole time. "Ve~ We heard some noises while you two were in there. Are you okay?"

"We're fine," Prussia drawled, brushing off the fact that he was actually scared half to death.

A cluster of nations formed in the middle of the room. China waved them over and started talking. "You're back. What exactly happened in there, aru?"

Malta shrugged. "Oh, just a little Steve encounter. You know how it is."

_It should have been me instead…_

Canada looked at her strangely, but went back to his serious face a moment later. He clutched a small bronze object in his hands. "…While you two were searching in there, we found the clock!" **[3]**

_So that's where that ticking is coming from. _It was starting to get onto her nerves. "Nice. We found a key." Malta held said key out to illustrate her point. "I think it goes to the basement or something, 'cuz it only has a _B_ on it."

Russia smiled, although it wasn't his usual smile. It seemed empty, weak for some reason. "Before we go, though, we have to settle this memory confusion."

England tapped his foot against the floor, struggling to think of a way to state his confusions. "…I don't think it's just me, but…didn't you notice anything when you broke the clocks?"

"…You noticed it too?" China stared incredulously at England. "Then it wasn't just my imagination."

"You mean we all get false memories whenever we break a clock?" Russia hummed to himself.

"Aiyah. When we broke the clock in the piano room, I got memories of coming here with Japan and others. But…"

Canada fingered the paper scraps in his pocket. "…Yeah. Our memories are all tangled, but first, let's try to remember how we started."

England was the first to speak, confidence in his speech but some form of doubt in his eyes. "It all started at the world meeting. We were all gathered in a single place, including those who are missing now."

"Right," Malta agreed. "There's no doubt that this was where it started. So, America heard the rumors about this place and said he wanted to come to see what it was like,"

Canada continued, "There meeting had ended and we had nothing better to do, so I came with America, China, Russia, France, and England…"

"We also invited Japan, but he didn't come, aru. That's why I sent him a message right before I came into the message."

Prussia crossed his arms. "When he saw that message, Ita started saying that he wanted to come too, and we dragged West and Japan along when we headed here." He didn't seem to notice Italy's sudden look of confusion and distress.

Malta added, "After you guys left, Andorra and I changed our minds about coming, and we persuaded Yugo into coming with us."

"But I also have different memories." England had the floor again. "I remember coming here with America and Japan, and it was China who got separated from us, not France."

Yugoslavia scanned the room as she spoke, suddenly feeling a bit claustrophobic with everyone standing around her. "Maybe we are getting confused because there are several mixed memories. We do not know which one is right…and it makes us draw the wrong conclusions."

"Ah, that's also an idea…" Russia thoughtfully tapped the end of his pipe on the floor. "When false memories get mixed in to hide the truth, we get confused and don't know what is what. And once you suspect something, everything else becomes suspicious, da?"

"…Well that means from now on, whenever we break a clock, we will get a lot of false memories, but we should not believe any of them!" Yugoslavia looked down and shifted slightly on her feet.

_What a bother, aru._ "Also, we have to be ready to get strange memories while we break the clocks."

England took the clock from Canada and examined its time-worn face. "Right. If we can discard them without worrying about them, we should definitely do so. Anyway, I'm going to break this clock. If you get any strange memories, just forget about them right away. Don't forget whom you came with or how you came to be here now." He placed the timepiece on the floor and hovered his foot over it. _If we don't break it, time won't go back to normal. We have to break it as soon as possible…_

Two worlds faded to black with the sound of smashing glass.

-x-

_**Survivors: 8**_

_**Missing: 5**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: **

**[1] – Because I know diddly squat about Japanese things. And Evo called it a dojo. ^j^**

**[2] – Both **_**fiver**_** and **_**tenner**_** are slang terms for the euro. This takes place in the modern day, so it's only fair for the euro to be used. (Besides, I feel like an idiotic American calling every kind of money **_**bucks**_**.)**

**[3] – Okay, I obviously missed something here. I thought they were all going to be basically in the came place, but then they weren't… I don't even know. I didn't rewrite it though, even if my writing is kinda crappy, because I want to get to my next scene as fast as possible.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I have WAY too many HetaOni pics on my computer. XD New cover picture! Whoever owns it, I don't claim rights to it. If I could draw, I wouldn't be writings fanfics, now would I? ;)**

**Chapter Nineteen**

_**Previously…**_

"… _I'm going to break this clock. If you get any strange memories, just forget about them right away. Don't forget whom you came with or how you came to be here now." England placed the timepiece on the floor and hovered his foot over it. _If we don't break it, time won't go back to normal. We have to break it as soon as possible…

_Two worlds faded to black with the sound of smashing glass._

-x-

Japan carefully opened the door and poked his head inside, unsure of exactly what he would find in this mysterious place. Not seeing anything on his first look, he took a few more steps inside, closing the door behind him.

It was a bedroom. No surprise there, considering that was what it said on the key. Two beds were pushed into the corner with a little space between them, and a set of bookshelves sat on the wall parallel to them. A large table dominated half of the room, equaling the size of a conference table, with only two chairs pushed up to it, side by side. It could have been the sleeping quarters of two friends or twin siblings, although as to which one, he wasn't sure.

_What? What is this? What's going on? …Japan?!_

He spotted what looked like white hair poking up from between the two beds, allowing a sigh of relief to slip past his lips. "Prussia!" His footsteps suddenly became louder when he approached the ex-nation's hiding place and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Prussia whipped around and drew his sword, flinging it in the general direction of whatever was behind him. "Who's there?!" He barely avoided hitting Japan, who had flinched away from the blade and held up his hands in surrender.

"Whoa! C-calm down, Prussia-san! It's me!"

"Oh, it's you Japan." Prussia returned his sword to its scabbard and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Ah…sorry 'bout that." He sat down on one of the beds and started to say something, but froze with his eyes still on Japan.

_No…this isn't right! This can't be right!_

Somehow Japan knew that something was wrong. "What's the matter?"

Prussia waved a hand at the Orient nation, as if telling him to be quieter. How ironic, hmm? "Don't you hear the sound of…something…getting closer?"

Not a second passed after he said that sentence before an earsplitting crack filled the room, accompanied by an animal-like hiss. The two shocked nations spun around and stared wide-eyed at the monstrosity dominating the doorway. It was slightly taller than the doorway and ashen gray in color, with a huge head balancing on a long neck connected to a humanoid-ish body. Its eyes were the darkest shade of black, glinting faintly with anger and what could have easily been determination.

_No! Not that! Anything but that! _

Japan instinctively reached over his left shoulder for his katana, the scabbard strapped soundly to his back. "…That's –" He didn't have time to finish his statement before the Thing charged, its knife-shaped claws aimed for the shorter man's throat.

"Watch out!" Prussia roughly shoved Japan aside and half-threw his sword at the Thing, succeeding in slicing its chest but also subjecting himself to the creature's claws. The albino murmured uncountable German curses as pain flowered throughout his body.

_Prussia!_

"Prussia-kun!" Japan ripped his katana off of his back and attacked the monster's other side, fending off the next round of attacks. He watched with weary victory as the Thing wrenched its had back and uttered a final pained cry before dissolving into the air, not leaving a trace.

"Son of a…" Prussia staggered back and collapsed at the side of the beds, exhaustion replacing adrenaline and forcing him down to the ground like a lead blanket. "…Ow… This is bad…"

Japan dropped his katana beside him and kneeled down at the ex-nation's side. It was obvious that the ex-nation had been hurt badly; crimson stained his right side and pooled up beneath his body. "Prussia-kun! H-hold on! I'll stop the bleeding with some sheets!"

Not noticing the metallic scent of blood surrounding him, Prussia laughed softly. "Nah, it's okay… I'm a nation… I won't…die…" His mind cleared just a bit, and he found himself staring at the ceiling with a distant gaze. "Ah…but I'm not…a nation anymore, am I? I t-told you that…"

_No, no! This can't be happening! Not Prussia too!_

"S-stop it!" Japan tried to remain calm and composed as he usually was, but his panic was too great to be forced down. "I'll call Germany! Please, this isn't the time for jokes!"

Prussia's breaths were shallowing by the second, and they both knew it. He turned his eyes toward Japan, their dulling sheen reflecting the blood surrounding them. "Are…West and…Ita…alright?"

For a moment, Japan was speechless. _Poor Prussia-kun… If only he knew…_ "Yes." He didn't even feel bad for lying to him. "Both have already left the mansion. We'll go home, too. Germany-san and Italy-kun are waiting for us."

"Kesesesesese! Yeah… We'll all go to your house and go to…the hot springs…" Prussia's voice was unnaturally quiet. It was actually scaring Japan a little – you know, along with the fact that the ex-nation was dying right in front of his eyes.

_No, no, no, _no_! Make it stop! That never happened! I-it _couldn't_ happen! Not to Prussia, not to anyone! This is all fake! All lies! None of us could die in a place like this!_

…_Right?_

-x-

The place was a small square room lined with dingy stone walls the color of an old steel knife. The floor was a similar material, and soft noises echoed off the walls without a struggle. A door stood in the center of the far wall, the only form of decoration in sight. Five figures stood in a circle in the center of the room; Yugoslavia closest to the door, with England to her right, Malta to her left, and Andorra and Prussia across from her. Russia was already gone.

_What? Where am I? …What is this place?!_

Andorra murmured profanities under her breath. It was obvious to tell that she was in a horrible mood. "Even though we all – most of us – got together, our situation still hasn't gotten any better! We're still locked up in here and that f…monster is still after us!" She threw a glare at Yugoslavia, remembering her friend's silent rule about cursing.

_What? This wasn't supposed to have happened! What on Earth…?_

"Calm down," England retorted, anger in his voice but carefully concealed by a veil of seriousness. "Don't be so pessimistic. Someone will eventually notice that some nations are gone, even if it's only a few, and they'll come to help…"

Prussia huffed, "Probably."

"We… We're being eaten one by one," Malta supplied, knowing that it wasn't helping the situation at all but still saying it. "That's what I would do, if I were Steve!"

Prussia crossed his arms over his chest, his temper quickly rising with each added comment. "Chill out, Malta! There's still plenty of other ways to get out of here!"

England suddenly looked contemplative, as if he was trying to find the right words to say. "I can't…think like that, but…I feel as though I'm in a battlefield. Though, if it were one, I would keep myself together and fight…" He barely cast a glance at Yugoslavia, and it was instantly obvious what he would have been fighting for.

"I wish I could change this…" Andorra sighed, grief heavy in her voice.

Yugoslavia had been silent the whole time, analyzing the conversation and waiting for the right time to speak up. _Now. Do not wait any longer._ "…England."

"Hmm? What is it, love?"

She offered a soft, reassuring smile. "It is okay. You…will all be okay. You will be able to get out this time. And if you get out, run straight ahead. Do not look back, no matter what happens. And whatever you do, make sure you get time –"

_Time? What the heck is Yugo talking about?_

The question remained unsolved, though, because it was at that moment that the Thing decided to burst through the door. Its claws ripped at the door and shaved bits of wood from its surface, throwing them around the room and at the gathered nations. Everyone spun around in shock and surprise – except for Yugoslavia, who only gazed at her friends with a brave but downcast look in her eyes.

"Yugo!" Andorra snapped out of her depression and reached back for her pickaxe.

"_Yugo_!" Malta and Prussia screeched the nickname as one voice, both taking a step toward the Thing looming over their quiet friend.

Yugoslavia knew exactly where the Thing was, but she didn't dare move. She didn't even bother to reach for her knife. _No. Not this time_. "Promise me, England."

_Yugo's going to… No, don't do it! Oh gosh, not _her_!_

The Thing suddenly pounced, its outstretched claws slowly moving in on Yugoslavia's head and body. It was as if time stood still; it hung in the air, a never-ending snarl splitting the previous silence. Another cry accompanied it, one of grief, pain, and total fear.

"YUGOSLAVIAAAA!"

-x-

The study reconstructed around Malta as the cry was silenced, dropping her back into the reality that she had been forced away from. She found herself staring at the bookshelf, safely barricading the room with the Thing, her eyes unable to move from the spine of a certain book. She didn't notice the nervous chatter around her until she felt someone shaking her shoulders in attempt to bring back her attention.

"Malta?!" The voice was Yugoslavia's. Although it barely rose above a whisper, the surprise and concern was obvious to hear. Her grip on Malta's shoulders slackened a bit when she noticed the island nation blink a few times and turn away from the bookshelf. "Malta, are you okay?"

"Y-Yugo!" Malta pushed her back and glanced around for any signs of the Thing in the room, but there was none to be found – although there were several confused stares in her direction.

Yugoslavia flinched back, looking as if the simple action had actually caused her minor pain. "Ah! I-is something wrong?"

China raised his voice above the others, attempting to calm the younger nations down. "Malta! Do you remember what we said about the clocks, aru?!"

_Oh yeah…_ Malta gave the question some though, letting out a deep breath to calm herself. _It was fake. The memory wasn't real. There's no way it could've been real._ "…Y-yeah, sorry. I'm okay. I remember."

"You get a lot more memories than the rest of us," Canada observed, "and they seem more intense, too."

Prussia frowned at the scared, nervous look in Malta's eyes. "You alright, awesome one? Do you need to rest a little?"

Malta stretched her arms out behind her, as if she had just woken up from a dream, one that she would have been happy to forget. "Nah. Sorry about that. I was just confused. …You all seem to be fine."

Russia shrugged dismissively. "In my case, it was so-so. I remembered running from the Thing with Italy and coming here with Amerika…"

"Me too," China reported, his voice lower than it had been a few minutes ago. "But once I calmed down, I realized that was nonsense! And then I forgot about it right away!"

England made an interesting observation about the false memories. "When we go through it again, it's a feeling similar to waking up from a dream. When we wake up, we have trouble separating dream from reality, but as soon as we calm down, our good judgment comes back. The first thing to do is calm down."

Malta wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, but once the murmurs of agreement died down, she spoke up. "Er, hey guys. Didn't you…see any rooms other than the ones we've been in so far?"

"_Nyet_. I've got many memories, but they've all been of rooms we've been in so far."

Yugoslavia tilted her head to the right, obviously slightly confused. "Did something happen to make you worry?"

_Should I tell her? …No, I shouldn't. That may be what had caused it in the first place. _"…No." _When we break the clocks, we get false memories that make us confused and less capable of understanding everything. No doubt about it. It's only because I'm confused. Yeah, that's it._

"Are your watches alright?" England asked, receiving only a handful of nods in response. But that was good enough for him. "Then let's go to the basement."

As the group huddled together to relay plans for the next few hours or so, Malta kept to herself, trying to figure all of this out. _It's like seeing so many movies and being shown so many things that you end up not knowing what's real and what's not. But if that room really does exist, that means that Yugo will…_

A tap on Malta's shoulder brought her attention to the figure beside her: Yugoslavia herself, her worry still prevalent but now watered down just a bit. "Malta?"

Malta couldn't find the words to say. "Yugo."

Yugoslavia's eyebrows lowered a bit. "Yes? Is something wrong?"

_More than you know._ Malta didn't dare to say her thoughts aloud, instead depending on a single question. "Are you… Are you hurt somewhere?"

The question caught Yugoslavia off guard. Hurt? What could she have possibly meant my _hurt_? "…No, I am not hurt at all."

"Yeah, right. Of course. Sorry for asking suck a weird question." Malta chuckled nervously to herself, as if that would make everything better. She noticed Yugoslavia smile a bit to herself and then turn away quickly.

Italy sighed shakily, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He hadn't said a word since Malta snapped out of her moment. "Ve~ This probably isn't really important…but I wish I could rest somewhere without having to worry…"

"Indeed," Canada said from across the room. "I'm so fatigued. I just with I could lie down for a bit."

_We have to be careful… We thought we were being deceived by the memories, but maybe – just maybe…they could be…a message from someone?_

-x-

_**Survivors: 8**_

_**Missing: 5**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

"Italy? Prussia? Italy, where are you?!"

Germany heard his cries echo throughout the first floor of the infamous mansion, returning to him shorter and quieter than before. He heard no other sounds coming from anywhere around him – except for the footsteps of the Japanese man beside him. The two had just appeared in the foyer after exploring the tatami room, and lo and behold, Italy and Prussia were gone. **[1]** Fearing the worst, they had decided to start looking for them although after searching through the entire kitchen and library, Germany was starting to have second thoughts. "We're never going to find them. They could have been killed by that Thing, for all we know!"

Oh yeah, the Thing showed up while the two were exploring the tatami room. It appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and attacked, cutting off the only exit and forcing nearly all of the strength out of them before it finally disappeared. In fact, it looked less wounded than they did; Japan had several bruises on his arms and face from the backlashes of the Thing's attacks, and Germany sported a deep gash down the center of his left cheek, along with several other scratches and scrapes. The slice in Germany's cheek would most likely leave a nasty scar, but it could have been worse. At least it stopped bleeding before anything else happened. **[2]**

"Well, there's always another door," Japan advised, his emotionless brown eyes peering around the corner as the corridor turned sharply right. "See? There are two more rooms here, and then the rooms upstairs. We will find them." At the end, he sounded like he was trying to persuade himself more than anything else.

Germany nodded once, his face remaining its usual strict self. He was terribly worried for Italy and his brother, but there was no way he would let Japan see. "Alright then. You can take one room and I will take the other. If that Thing shows up again, don't hesitate to say something."

"Hai." No more words said, Japan unsheathed his katana and pushed into the first door, leaving Germany in the middle of the hall with the second.

Germany sighed, threw away his thoughts of worry and regret, and marched through the door, throwing the light switch the moment he found it. The room he had just stepped into was a bathroom – a plain one at that – with a bathtub in the far corner and a pair of mirrors hanging over a vanity with two sinks. Tan tiles lined the floors. A typical bathroom, one might say. In the shadowed space beneath the vanity was an area of exposed wood flooring, nails sticking up within bent floorboards and failing at their job of sealing them down. He kneeled beside the vanity and rapped his knuckles on the wood, listening carefully for any sounds. It sounded hollow.

_What? How is this possible?_ Carefully, he scooted closer and took hold of the bent plank, making sure to not touch the rusty nails, and pried it back. To his shock, there was another layer of wood, though it was mostly eaten away by mold and what he assumed to be termites. "Incredible…" _There_ _must be something else down there…another room, maybe!_ Against his better judgment, he got down on his hands and knees, peering through the hole and into the darkness beyond…

All that Japan heard was a crack and the sound of a dead weight against stone.

"Germany-san!" He had previously been examining the cabinet in the other bathroom for anything of interest, but abandoned it and ran for the source of the sounds, his katana raised in preparation for the upcoming battle. "Germany-san, what happened?" He threw open the door and found absolutely no one in the room. "…Where are you?"

"Down here!"

It was definitely Germany's voice, although it suddenly sounded like it was echoing all around the room. Making sure to watch his steps, Japan gazed in shock down the hole. Sure enough, he saw Germany sitting on the ground below in a very dark room, rubbing his shoulder sorely.

"Japan?" Germany stood and supported himself against the wall beside him. His muscles were aching from the fall, but for the most part, he seemed to be okay. He tried to stare through the hole, but the light was too bright; he could only see a shadow of a head outlined by a halo of white. "Is that you?"

Japan slid his katana back into its scabbard and stared at the German, too shocked to even decide on a reason. "Hai! …W-what happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure. The floor collapsed from under me…" Germany coughed, suddenly feeling a strange presence in the shadows surrounding him. "I should be fine though. I can barely see down here, but… Go find Prussia and Italy! That is still our priority! I'll stay here and find a way upstairs."

Japan was tempted to speak out against his plan. He was tempted to say, _but what about you? If we split up, the Thing could attack either of us! _However, he actually couldn't disagree. As long as Germany had his whip and stayed within the shaft of light, he should be okay. "…Alright. I will report here when I find someone." _I have to find them. I have to find them._ With this new mantra in his mind, he stood and dashed out of the bathroom, his feet slamming silently against the wooden floor.

_I have to find them._

_I have to find them._

_I have to –_

-x-

The silence that drowned the darkened corners of the basement was what could be called _horror movie silence_ – the kind of silence where the smallest noises get magnified in comparison to the general quiet engulfing the place. Paired with the shadows, it was really freaking Germany out. The stone walls around him echoed every footstep, every sigh of breath that the nation made and projected them throughout the lonely corridor, as if they were trying to remind him why he was here in the first place.

Earlier, he said the mansion wasn't haunted.

He can't say that any more.

_Focus,_ he scolded himself, occasionally feeling the walls for some form of light switch. _A wandering attention will get you nowhere._ He finally found a switch, and it revealed to him the room that the hall directed him into. It could have been a conference room of some sort; two large couches flanked the shorter sides of a huge wooden table, with a smaller gray sofa pushed to close to one of the longer ends. The furniture took up most of the space in the room, leaving only a ten-foot long around the walls for walking space. A door hid in the far corner, placed as far away from the table as possible while still remaining in the same room.

_Proceed with care._

He heard Japan's voice somewhere in the back of his mind, ignoring the fact that he had no idea how it got there in the first place. _I will. Nothing will happen. That is, if everything goes well…_

Shaking off his negative thoughts, Germany stepped through the doorway and into a second corridor beyond. It turned sharply right, then right again, turning in the opposite direction from where he was standing. The only light in sight was the leftovers from the conference room, which spattered one wall in its yellowish glow and nothing else. About twenty seconds and one corridor later, he emerged into another room, this one with several smaller stools at a table rather than large couches. Doorways marked a pair of corridors just beyond the room, one directly across from the entry door, the other in the middle of the far wall. There was nothing hiding the passages from view, except for the shadows lurking in every available space. He didn't take one step out of his way as he made a beeline for the first passage, his hand curling around the handle of the whip at his side. _Stay focused…_

Despite the darkness that clouded his vision, he could make out one notable feature of the corridor: a set of iron bars like those in a prison, stretching from one wall to the other and blocking off the space beyond. A door was centered within the bars, locked firmly with an old-fashioned iron padlock. It didn't seem to be rusted through, but Germany wasn't so sure. Maybe… He gripped the bars with both hands and shook them, the metal giving way only a little before holding firm.

_CHING. CHING, CHING CHING…_

Nothing. For some reason, he seemed relieved. At least the lock meant that anything that dared to come at him from behind wouldn't have the chance to attack. Or vice versa… _I should get back to the light, _he warned himself, before his thoughts could get too gruesome. _Japan will probably be waiting for me._ He took one last look at the padlocked metal door and walked away, away from the mysteries that may have lied just inches away from where he stood.

-x-

_How long have I been here? How long have I been trapped? Whatever it is, it's too long. Way too long. Even surrounded by people, it's just too quiet. I keep getting this weird feeling that I'm being watched, and not by anyone around me. Maybe it's that Thing again…_

_Wait, am I talking to myself? Seriously, I'm just as good as –_

_CHING. CHING, CHING CHING…_

_Whoa, what was that? Maybe I should go take a… Wait, never mind. It was probably nothing. I wonder when we'll finally be found…_

-x-

Of course, everyone was expecting to run into the Thing. No one was thinking that they would be completely safe anymore, especially after all of the surprises and shocks that the mansion gave them. However, there were two things that they weren't expecting.

For one, he wasn't expecting to turn the corner and find himself faced with the mob of shocked faces and readied weapons.

For others, they weren't expecting to pause at the basement door and have a short, kimono-clad man run into them.

In case you haven't already figured out what had just happened, I'll give you a run-down of the situation. The assembled survivors had made their way from the study through the foyer and approached the only locked door on the first floor. Malta, being the one with the basement key, stepped forward to unlock the door when a soft, rhythmic pounding filed the air. There was just enough time to turn toward the sound before a blue blur flew around the corner, skidding to halt just in time to avoid running into Yugoslavia. Everyone froze, tightening their grips on their weapons in preparation for the battle to come…before recognizing the face of the intruder.

"Ve~ Japan!" Italy was the first to com to his senses, a wide smile stretching across his face. He pushed through the crowd and all but ran toward the Orient nation, nearly tackling him with the force of the hug.

Japan stiffened, still unsure of what had just happened. The Italian's action made him extremely uncomfortable but relieved at the same time, so he brushed I off without a single word. "…Italy-kun! Prussia-kun! You…you're okay!"

Yugoslavia was once again pushed out of the way as Prussia moved to stand beside Italy, the rest of the group forming a circle around the prodigal son. "'Course we were," Prussia assured, grinning widely at Japan. "Why wouldn't we be?"

Not answering the ex-nation's question, Japan drew his gaze across the disassembled mob, smiling the tiniest bit with relief in his eyes. "I see you two found the others. We were worried about what had happened to you."

"_We_?" China leaned away from Japan and around the corner, but he still couldn't see the elusive other person that Japan meant by we. "What do you mean by _we_, aru?"

"Oh, Germany-san and I. We had been looking around in the tatami room for a moment," Japan explained to the group, "but when we emerged into the foyer, we found that Italy-kun and Prussia-kun were gone. Germany-san was…frightened by their disappearance. We tried searching for them on this floor, but we couldn't find them. Then, we got separated, and I came back here to continue the search. That was only a few minutes ago."

England crossed his arms, a puzzled look on his face. "If you're here, then…."

"Where is Germany?" Yugoslavia finished England's sentence for him. She wasn't surprised that Japan turned suddenly, as if noticing her for the first time. She was used to it.

"…Oh, he is down this hall," Japan stated, stuttering on his first words and coughing to keep the shock in his voice hidden. "It's too much to explain right now, but he's waiting for me to report back to him. Follow me."

-x-

_How did I see this coming? How did I know that this would happen, that he would appear seemingly out of nowhere the moment we start thinking about something else? …Rhetorical questions. I know all of these answers, and too many more. If only I stopped it… I could have stopped it. I should have stopped it. I knew that they would cause something bad to happen. I could have stopped it! I could have saved everyone!_

_I have to get out. No, they have to get out. I no longer care about myself. I could disappear, and no one would think twice about me. I am the weak link. I am the only one who can stop this. And I will. For them, not for me. If I die, it would be relief._

-x-

_**Survivors: 10**_

_**Missing: 3**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: I hope you're all happy about the return of Germany and Japan! I know I am! ^j^ I'm actually taking a brief hiatus from this story so that I can get out a chapter for my other fanfics. I haven't updated them since I got into Hetalia (translation: in FOREVER) and I don't want to disappoint my fans any more than I have to. But not to worry! I already have chapter 21 done as well, so it's all good. Hasta la pasta~!**

**[1] – I heard someone call the Japanese-style room a tatami room once, so I decided to Google it. It actually makes perfect sense. From now on, that's what I'm gonna call it. Maybe. …Depending on how I feel while writing a certain part. **

**[2] – *insert evil laugh here***


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I realized that the song Bohemian Rhapsody by rock band Queen has more in common with HetaOni than I thought. ._. Anyway, enjoy~!**  
**NOTICE. There's this really awesome poem by an anonymous reviewer on The Deceiving Maiden's HetaOni fanfic, and I love it. The reviewer's name is Kletogirl (although I think it's supposed to be Kleptogirl...). If anyone knows how I could contact her, I'd like to include her poem in my fic. _Grazie amici_! ^j^**

**Chapter Twenty-one**

_We found them. At least we found them. We may have yet to find Andorra, America, and France, but we are making progress. Try to think positive more. It might help._

…_Mmm, no. That did nothing last time. Or the time before that. Or the time before _that_. It seems like every time I try to do something different, it always fails. …Or is it me that always fails? I do not know anymore. If only I knew what He wanted out of all of this? If He wanted me, He would have done something already, right? Maybe He wants my friends instead…_

_Ha. I would like to see Him try._

-x-

_**Is this the real life?  
Is this just fantasy?  
Caught in a landslide,  
No escape from reality.  
Open your eyes,  
Look up to the skies and see...**_

-x-

The survivors were not surprised when they heard about the turn of events that caused Germany to be trapped in the bottom of a hole leading down to the basement. In fact, they somehow expected the claims of "a psychopath alien monster" finding them in the tatami room and the "floorboards falling out from underneath Germany" when he got too close to the damaged ones. They spent about ten minutes crowded into the bathroom at the end of the corridor, relaying information to one another and bringing the two formerly missing Axis countries up to speed on their progress. In fact, Germany approved; he thought that the plan of grouping up and working together would fail miserably with the nations as teammates. (I don't blame him. Just look at every world meeting since the 1600s.)

But hey, at least it worked.

After meeting up with Germany, all available nations split up into two groups: one to search the basement and one to find the elusive key to the iron door. Of course, no one really wanted to look for the key, so the groups ended up being Malta and Yugoslavia, and then everyone else. The _everyone else_ didn't really mind though, so the two split up from the everyone else and left them to search for Germany. The search ended fairly quickly when Japan found a light switch, revealing a tired-looking blonde sitting against the wall a few meters away.

"Ve~ Germany!" Italy was quick in running the distance between the group and his friend, barely giving Germany a chance to stand before hugging him with the force of a freight train. "_Ti abbiamo trovato_! _Ti abbiamo trovato_~!" **[1]**

Prussia laughed in that annoying way of his and waltzed up to his brother, his own arms open as if he was expecting a hug too. "Don't forget about me, brohas! Kesesesesese~"

Saying that Germany was surprised and relieved would have been a huge understatement. He had a baffled look on his face, like he couldn't believe what was happening. He couldn't even respond to Italy's tackle-hug until he came to his senses. "…Italy! _Bruder_! You're okay! _Gott sei Dank_…" **[2]** Something resembling a smile crossed his face.

Japan cleared his throat to bring attention away from the awkward reuniting moment and toward the matter at hand. "Ahem… So there are thirteen of us here in the mansion at this time. Currently, three are missing –"

"Da. Amerika, France, and Andorra." Russia didn't seem phased at all by interrupting the Asian nation.

"…but we know that they are not on the first, third, or fourth floors."

China added, "That's right. A few more doors on the first floor are locked, aru. We can't get into them yet."

"And then there's down here…" England glanced around at the general barren-ness of the place. "Who knows how large this basement is."

Canada decided to make himself noticed, so he responded, "Well, we will know as soon as the other two come back with the key."

"In the meantime –" Germany shook Italy off and went into serious mode again, as if the whole reunion had never happened. "r – I looked around where I could while you all were upstairs. Follow me."

**(A/N: Fail cutoff is fail. Again. DX)**

-x-

…_**If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,  
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters.**_

_**Too late, my time has come,  
Sends shivers down my spine,  
Body's aching all the time.  
Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go,  
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.  
Mama, ooh,  
I don't wanna die,  
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all…**_

-x-

Malta felt weird. Not the kind of weird that you feel when you're in a crowd and you can sense someone staring right at you from far away, or the kind of weird when you eat something that doesn't agree with your stomach. It was actually some other kind of weird, a kind of weird that gave her the feeling of absolute sanity. It _was_ pretty weird.

She pushed her thoughts to the side as she entered the room branching off from the basement. It was pretty small, with a dirty white rug covering most of the hardwood flooring and a table on top of that. No chairs were in sight, a strange occurrence. A few chests of drawers were pressed into the left corner, some drawers half-open and exposed to the light. There was very little to look through, but the two searched anyway, happy to have a small number of people in their group. It would have gotten crowded, and fast.

Watching her friend conduct her search under the table, Malta glanced underneath the first chest, the one farthest from the corner. She noticed something gray attached to the underside of the chest and reached up for it, ripping it from the wood with a satisfying _shipp_. It was a large piece of duct tape, a little dusty from the brief exposure to the stale air, with something mildly heavy stuck to the side. She turned it over in her hand. "I found the key."

The key itself was nothing to be proud of. It was rustier than any of the others, made of some kind of dark gray metal that gave it a strangely heavy appearance. The inscription on the bow was more than obvious this time: _**Cell Door**_. Malta got to her feet and turned around, ready to walk out of the room with a sense of victory – sorta.

"…Hey, Malta."

Malta looked up, surprised by her friend's sudden interjection. "…Yeah? What is it, Yugo?"

Yugoslavia was seated at the edge of the table, her hands placed in her jacket pockets as she looked Malta in the eyes with obvious confusion and doubt. Her expression was so serious that she almost seemed older than she was. "You seem to have been brooding about something for a while now. …Are you hung up on something? You have been very quiet since we broke that clock."

"Nah, I'm fine. … What about you though? You've been quiet too!" It was a weak argument, since Yugoslavia was always quiet to some degree, but Malta ignored that fact. "And you're shaking."

Yugoslavia looked down at where her hands would have been. "Am I? It must be your…imagination…" She almost looked threatened at the thought. "Um, l-listen, Malta. If you saw anything, it was all a lie. You should not think about it, remember? We had this discussion earlier."

"…Yeah, okay. But shouldn't I think about the whole confusion thing being a hint? I mean, it's possible, right? I was just thinking that maybe, they're actually –"

"No!" Even Yugoslavia looked surprised by her sudden outburst, but she quickly composed herself. "Just…forget it. Forget it all. Do not even think about those strange things! If you think about them for too long, they will do something to you!" With that, she led the way out of the room, leaving Malta behind to stare in a paralyzed shock.

Malta finally came to her senses and ran after her, shaking her head in confusion. "Yugo…" _What did she mean by _do something to me_? Would it make me see something differently? …And what's been up with her recently? It's like this whole mansion thing is driving her insane or something. …That better not be the case. I don't want an insane best friend._ When she finally emerged from the room, she noticed Yugoslavia poised just beyond the doorway, waiting for her. Her face looked so calm and collected that it was hard to imagine her lashing out with such a force. Maybe it was my imagination. Not bothering to say anything else, Malta followed her friend into the darkened abyss of the basement, a strange ringing erupting in her ears.

-x-

_**Nothing really matters,  
Anyone can see,  
Nothing really matters,  
Nothing really matters to me.**_

_**Any way the wind blows…**_

-x-

It took exactly five minutes for everyone's minds to be blown.

First, the basement itself. The _everyone else_ group was amazed that a basement with stone walls and floors could be so nicely furnished. Large couches and sturdy tables littered the place, giving off an atmosphere of sophistication despite the gruesome circumstances.

Second, the door. Once Malta and Yugoslavia had finally come back with the key to the iron door, the lock was easily clicked open and slid aside, just like any other door. Maybe their subconsciouses expected it to be booby trapped or something. No one will ever know.

But the most confusing and important mind-blowing moment of all was once they actually opened the door. The corridor ahead of them split into two: one to their left and another to their right. Just as they walked through the threshold, a sudden noise flowed past from the right corridor, sounding unnervingly familiar to most of those in the party of ten.

"_Kolkolkolkolkolkolkol…"_

Nearly everyone jumped at the sudden noise, all turning their eyes toward a certain violet-eyed member of their search party. Despite the obvious accusatory feel to the air, Russia smiled warmly and turned on his heel to the right. He didn't bother to tell anyone where he was going or why as he broke away from the group, following the source of the sound.

"Hey!" China glare at the back of Russia's head, as if that alone would keep him from doing anything stupid. "Where do you think you're going, aru?!" Nevertheless, he ran after Russia, mumbling something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a near-threat.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Malta nudged Yugoslavia's shoulder jokingly as they followed Russia and China through the threshold to another room. "Hey, listen. The mating call of the elusive Russia."

Neither girl had time to be amused before they saw the scene.

This new room was by far the biggest one they had been into, rivaling the size of the kitchen. There was absolutely no furniture in sight, giving it a feeling of eerie abandonment. Another set of iron bars, much like the ones in the hall and the room in the study, was the main feature of the room, its length spanning from the wall near the door to the one opposite. Most of the room was sealed off by the bars, the only way in or out being the lonely door welded into the iron, sealed with a fist-sized padlock. Within the sealed-off area sat three figures, one to the far right, the others to the far left. The girl at the right was sitting on a crate, chanting the frightening _kolkolkolkolkolkolkol_ at her companions, looking quite satisfied at the degree to which she scared them. Her two victims glared right back, both trying to hold back their fear; one sat with his dark brown bomber jacket draped over his legs, and the other had the short piece of his bright blue cape tied around his left arm in a makeshift bandage.

Malta stopped and stared at the figures, her mind not processing their presence until the moment she shouted out. "You!"

Looking up from his tired daze, America lifted both arms into a V of victory. "Me!"

France, forced to endure the American's loud voice since their disappearance, rolled his eyes with annoyance. _Him._ **[3]**

Andorra was the first to stand and rush over to the bars separating her from her friends, dropping her act for the time being. "Malta, Yugo! You guys are okay! What're you doing here?!"

"We're the ones who should be asking you that!" shouted a voice from behind Yugoslavia. England had entered the room just after her, and was currently glaring at America over Yugoslavia's shoulder. "We were wor – wondering where you all were! What have you been doing?!"

"Anyway…" France interrupted the yelling session and gestured to the door to his right with his injured arm. "Could you please open this door for us? We can't open it from here, you see~"

Malta glanced down at her closed fist, feeling the cool metal of the key pressing against her palm. "…Yeah, sure." She didn't like the feeling that the room gave her, but she quickly ignored it and approached the door. She jammed the key into the padlock and gave it a quick turn. The mildly amused expression on her face fell.

Noticing the sudden change of emotion, Andorra rushed over and pressed face to the bars. "What's wrong?"

Wide eyes and silence were Malta's only responses to Andorra's question. She turned her gaze upward and locked hazel eyes with her friend's green ones. "…It won't open."

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: Song lyrics **(in _**bold italics**_)** are from the song Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.**

**[1] – Italian for, "We found you! We found you~!"**

**[2] – German for, "Thank God…"**

**[3] – I had an iCarly moment there. :p Yes, I used to watch that show. Before it ended. Don't judge.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-two**

_**Previously…**_

_France interrupted the yelling session and gestured to the door to his right with his injured arm. "Could you please open this door for us? We can't open it from here, you see~"_

_Malta glanced down at her closed fist, feeling the cool metal of the key pressing against her palm. "…Yeah, sure." She didn't like the feeling that the room gave her, but she quickly ignored it and approached the door. She jammed the key into the padlock and gave it a quick turn. The mildly amused expression on her face fell._

_Noticing the sudden change of emotion, Andorra rushed over and pressed face to the bars. "What's wrong?"_

_Wide eyes and silence were Malta's only responses to Andorra's question. She turned her gaze upward and locked hazel eyes with her friend's green ones. "…It won't open."_

I would be lying if I said that no one was upset by this realization. Actually, it's the complete opposite. Rather than giving Malta a chance to further explain what was happening, everyone threw her into the middle of an international argument, each country flinging hateful words at each other as if this was just another world meeting.

But it wasn't. It was far from it.

Only four of the thirteen gathered were silent. There was Malta, undoubtedly the victim in all of this; Yugoslavia and Canada, the two who never have anything to say at the meetings; and little Italy, who seemed the most frightened by everyone's sudden mood changes. Even as the nonsense wound around them, they remained (mostly) calm and tried to figure out the problem on their own. Ideas flew through their minds, but they were fleeting, and disappeared into thin air when one of the surrounding nations decided to make a particularly loud comment.

Then, it hit her. After Andorra's disappearance, Yugoslavia had taken it upon herself to hold all of the keys she had found for safekeeping, and at the moment they were all sitting at the bottom of her bag just waiting to be used. _Maybe it is one of them instead!_ Besides, it would have been way too obvious to use the same key twice. Whoever created this labyrinth of a mansion was very clever indeed. She tried raising her voice above the din of the argument, but she could barely hear her own thoughts, even inside of her mind. "Er, Malta?"

"Huh?" Andorra turned away from her heated discussion with France and England when she hear the faintest of voices on the other side of the bars. "Did you say something, Yugo?"

Yugoslavia seemed surprised that she was noticed, but she didn't leave the opportunity. "Well, I was trying to…"

Andorra gave her friend a brief thumbs-up before reaching through the bars and poking the nearest person. That nearest person happened to be Germany, who turned to look back at her with an irritated look on his face. She pointed to her mouth, as if to tell him that she had something to say. He must have understood, because the next second he was sucking in a breath to prepare himself for gathering everyone's attention.

"Everyone SHUT UP!"

The screaming nations silenced at the sound of Germany's cry. Okay, _now_ it's like the world meetings.

"We gathered together to solve the problems that we're facing," Germany shouted, crossing his arms and glaring at each and every one of the fighting countries, "not to fight about the problems of our past. And since I'm the only country who seems to know how to run a meeting, we'll follow _my_ rules from here on out. Eight minutes each for speeches, no chit-chat about side-deals, and absolutely _no_ going over the time limit. Now if you want to go, make sure you're prepared and raise your hand, but do so in a way that does _not_ mock any salutes of my country's past!"

"Thanks." Andorra raised her hand and didn't bother to wait on being called. "Actually, Yugo has something to say."

All eyes turned to Yugoslavia, who immediately shrunk under the pressure of twelve gazes all watching her intently. "What? Oh, uh… I w-was just thinking, and maybe…maybe you have to use a different key. I mean…if this place was made to confuse us, then they would not make it that simple, right?"

Silence. The thought was moving across the minds of the gathered at a snail's pace, a look of recognition passing over the faces of the group once it finally connected in their minds.

Andorra was the first to speak, starting with a nervous yet relieved chuckle. "Genius!"

"That's true," China added, holding his chin in one palm. "Maybe it's one of the other keys, aru!"

"Yugo! Toss your bag over here!" Malta raised a hand into the air, waiting for the ex-nation to comply with her request. For some reason, she was surprised when she actually felt the bag hit her chest.

"Try the study key first," Prussia suggested, digging through the duffel bag's contents in search of the keys – of course, the one he was looking for was the last one that he pulled out.

Malta grabbed it from him and shoved it forcefully into the padlock, smiling as it accepted the lock with a cheerful _click_. She shoved the door in and stepped aside to avoid being trampled by the three formerly trapped nations.

"Phew, thanks!" America stated heroically, making a beeline for the wall and almost running into his brother in the process. "Oh, sorry Canadadia. **[1]** This was a good place to take refuge in, but then we couldn't get out and we've been waiting for you guys to get here!"

China rolled his eyes. "This is the only time we're doing you this favor!"

Ignoring China's comment (just like everyone else within earshot of the Orient nation), Malta turned to Andorra, who was stretching her arms lazily behind her. "Anyway, Andorra, what were you doing in there? You just disappeared from the fireplace room."

"You guys wouldn't wake up," Andorra retaliated. She actually sounded pretty ticked off, but Russia placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "I had a really hard time after that! It's a miracle I'm still alive."

Yugoslavia stepped forward a bit so that she stood to Malta's left, wanting to be sure she was heard over the murmured conversations around them. At the time, she was the closest to the door. "Andorra, you were gone when we woke up. Was it because you encountered that Thing? …Did it hurt you again?"

Andorra stared off into the distance for a moment before returning to real life. "Oh yeah… Well, I was having fun keeping watch, and someone suddenly began to pound on the door and move the doorknob all creepy-like. When I opened it, I found it was him!" She sent a sharp death glare in France's direction.

Upon noticing the glances in his direction, France gave an amused chuckle. "Ohonhonhon~ Her face was a masterpiece! But she cane out swinging her pick at _moi_ and I got a little injured." He lifted his arm, the one wrapped in part of his cape, to illustrate his point.

"It's just a flesh wound," Andorra muttered bluntly.

"There's no need to say things like that, _sœur Andorre_~!" **[2]**

"Only I'm allowed to hate on my family, _germà França_." **[3]**

"Anyway…" France turned away from Andorra and focused on everyone else, continuing his side of the story. "While you two _belles filles_ were snoring away, we were exchanging information, when suddenly –"

"– that monster came out of nowhere! I wasn't ready to fight and it scared the crap out of me, so we got injured. We were in trouble, big time!" Andorra seemed to be enjoying the whole storytelling thing. "Waking you guys up would only make things worse though, so we fought in the hallway. We were at a disadvantage, so we ran down to the first floor."

France rubbed his arms self-consciously, feeling a sudden chill sweep throughout the room. "And then, before we know it, that monster was there ahead of us, attacking _Amerique_. We were going to sneak away behind its back, but then he waved his hands and said, 'Hey, over here!' with a huge grin. …So we got dragged into it."

America shrugged dismissively, his grin not leaving his face. "Hey, I couldn't fight it alone! What's the problem?! I just thought we'd have three times more chances to beat it –"

"So…" Andorra didn't mind cutting him off. "…since we weren't ready to fight, we couldn't fight, and we ran away to this place. We hid in that cell, but then we couldn't open it from the inside, so we had no choice but to wait for you guys."

Canada pushed himself away from his brother, who decided to lean back against him like he was a wall, and looked back at the other survivors. "…We need to explain to them what is going on. Why don't we split up into two groups?"

"Indeed," Japan agreed. "Their injuries aren't severe, either. I'll keep looking around the basement.

"England and I will stay and lecture America, then."

"Hey! I don't have to be lectured! I'm the hero!"

"Yeah, it really sounds like it, git."

Germany stuffed his hands in his pockets, his ice-blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "I have some things to tell them, too."

"…Then I'm coming with Japan!" America didn't seem to understand the concept of staying behind.

"Weren't you listening? We're going to explain to you what's going on, so you have to stay, aru!"

"Aww, do I have to?" America put on his most convincing pout. "Japan can explain to me, can't you, Japan?"

Japan froze, unsure of exactly how to respond. _It had to be the slowest to understand…_ "Very well. I would be glad to do it. Well –" he was happy to change the subject, since he wasn't too sure of what he was talking about in the first place. "– we'll go and look around. We'll see you later."

"May I come, too?" Yugoslavia's voice was drowned out by Italy's, who was basically asking the same question.

"Ve~ Can I come with you, Japan?"

"No, we'll be fine. We'll just look around and we'll be right back." Japan gave a subtle nod to England and Canada. "Canada, England, I'll lecture him on your behalf."

Canada nodded back. "Alright. Give him a good earful."

"No, wait. I'm coming with you. There's something that has been bothering me." England rubbed his hands together, an aura of nervousness forming around him. "…It's just something I want to check out. It's not that much."

"I see. You may come along then. We'll be back in about 15 minutes. See you all later." Japan started leading the small group of nations toward the door, pausing when he felt a soft poke on the shoulder.

It was Italy, standing with his back pressed against the iron bars of the cell, his face holding a worried and disheartened expression. "Japan…" He somehow managed the word before stuttering the rest of his warning. "…Be back soon, okay?"

It was then that Yugoslavia noticed Andorra pass by her and toward the door. She caught her friend's arm, drawing her attention away from the door and the corridor beyond. "Andorra? You are going too?"

"Yeah." Andorra responded as if the fact was obvious. It might have been, but she paid no attention to this fact. Instead, she worked at prying her friend's hand off of her arm. "I've been stuck in that cell forever. I wanna go see what's out there, ya know? Besides, I'm tired of this room."

Something flickered in Yugoslavia's eyes, something that Andorra had never seen before. It would have creeped her out, but she didn't see it long enough. The Balkan nation blinked, and in that instant the flicker was gone. "…Alright. Watch out for yourself, Andorra. We do not know much of what is out there."

"I will, I will. Don't worry about it." Andorra flashed her a smile before noticing that Japan was paused in the doorway, looking back expectantly at her. "Hey, I gotta go, Yugo. See you later!" She darted away and scampered after the group, disappearing through the darkened doorway.

Yugoslavia and Italy were left staring after them, the same look on both of their time-weary faces.

_Come back alive. Please._

-x-

_In the beginning, there was nothing.  
Then there were three: the three that first discovered the horrors that lay within the mansion. _

_More and more came after them until there were thirteen. Thirteen survivors, thirteen nations forever changed by their experiences. Three of the thirteen were female; two of the thirteen were nations no longer; one of the thirteen had too many secrets to hide._

…_Or so they thought._

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: Hooray! :D I don't even know why I wrote that last part. I felt like this chapter needed something more, so I added it.**

**[1] – Canada now has three names: Canada, Canadia, and Canadadia. :D (Canadadia brought to you by malta-chan765.)**

**[2] – **_**sœur Andorre**_**: French for, "sister Andorra." (Yep, France is Andorra's big brother. Don't you just love family? :D)**

**[3] – **_**germà França**_**: Catalan for, "brother France."**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-three**

Now, there are several different ways we can go with this part of the story. I could start spurting out random thoughts from the minds of the affected, without identifying who the thoughts are actually made of, thus confusing anyone who may happen to actually reads this. Or I could start telling about the adventures of the two different groups, the conversations they have, the discoveries they make, the confusions that they encounter on their journey for escape. Or maybe I could add another perspective to completely throw you off and add a convenient side-plot to the mix. Or I could keep rambling on like this and leave you wondering when I'm actually going to get back to the story. I bet you're already annoyed at me. Well, I was just wasting your time. I'll get back to the story now.

-x-

When one hears the word basement, they usually think about a dark, cramped room with concrete walls and floor space completely dominated by dusty boxes, with cobwebs in every available corner. What they would not think of is a small but spacious room with pristine bookshelves, a small cabinet in the corner, and yet another large table (_What's up with the tables in this place?_) placed directly in the middle. Of course, this is exactly what the basement search party found then they reached the first room on their path of discovery.

The search party – which now consisted of Japan, America, England, Prussia, and Andorra – was not annoyed. On the contrary; the five nations had seen so much action in so little time that it was hard to believe that anything less than a year had already passed between the time they entered and at that very moment. As a whole, they felt absolutely nothing wrong with the room, and continued on their way.

However, England stopped. He was the last to enter the room, and so he would be the last to leave. No one would notice if he gave the room a good once-over before he moved on. The feeling was back, the one of complete silence, the one that he had been feeling off and on ever since he first set foot on the mansion's grounds. Yet this time, something was different. It was as if the entire room's aura was different. It was almost like its aura had changed from the black of nothingness to a –

The others were slipping through the door across the room, one by one. No one had noticed England's suspicious gaze yet, so he cast one final glance around the room before rushing after the party. _There's something about this room that is bothering me, _he told himself as he walked, completely absorbed in his own thoughts. The others' conversations were inaudible to him. Its aura looked completely different from anything else in the mansion. It seemed familiar, somehow…_ I guess I'll check it out later._

While England's internal rambling kept him amused, the rest of the search party had grown silent in awe of the new passage that closed in around them. Unlike the simple wood and drywall corridors of the upstairs levels or the clean-cut stone of the rest of the basement, this tunnel was more or less a true tunnel; the walls, ceiling, and floor were all hard-packed earth, and old wooden beams played the role of makeshift rafters keeping the tunnel from caving in. The place could have been carved out of the ground by a million shovels, and even then it wouldn't have been as precise or structurally sound.

For some reason, America got the great idea to try and stick his hand into the wall, and was rewarded with a small shower of dirt and gravel raining down from the ceiling. A particularly large rock hit him square in the head. "This place is like a mine."

"It is probably as dangerous as one as well," Japan added, carefully measuring his steps in attempt to keep anything else bad from happening. "We all need to be as careful as we can."

The five marched on, each member taking attentive glances at the passage around them. A large hole in the left wall was the only feature of importance as far as anyone could see – that may or may not have been a good sign. The edges of the hole were ragged, and stood about one and a half meters from its beginning on the ground to its highest point. **[1]** The ground sloped a little at the bottom, as if it was descending into a passage all its own. The only problem was that there was no light in it whatsoever; the leftover light from the reading room was the only thing illuminating the space, along with some other mysterious light streaming in from the corner.

"Hey, what's down there?" Andorra got down on her knees and leaned over the hole, as if that could help her see what was down there. She could feel a sudden dropoff at the edge, but she didn't know exactly how far down it went.

"Hey guys, check this out!"

Spinning around in surprise at the sudden loudness of the "awesome" voice, Andorra felt herself lurch forward and begin the long plummet into the dark abyss known simply to the nations as "the hole." She didn't have time to fell for long, though, because two hands reached out and caught her just in time – one was Japan's, the other England's. The latter was mumbling something under his breath about stupidity and America as he pulled her up, but Japan didn't seem to be affected by the close call at all. Instead, once Andorra was back on her own two feet, he was the first one to rush to Prussia's side to see what all the fuss was about.

"A rope ladder…" The Orient nation stared up at the ceiling, where the mysterious light had been coming from, and was blinded by the bright orange light of the sun bending down below the horizon. Sunset.

"We've got it! I can even see outside!" For once, true excitement could be heard in England's voice. "We can finally get out!"

Andorra nodded in agreement, barely being able to move his eyes away from the beautiful light of day. "Thank God… Let's get the others down here, and quick!" She proceeded to lead the way back to the cell room, with Prussia and England hard on her heels. Within moments, they turned the corner and disappeared the way they came, not bothering to close the door after them.

Japan and America were the last two in the tunnel, and so when Japan spoke, he could feel his words bouncing around the walls and hitting him again and again. "Well, let's go."

For some reason, America wouldn't move. He was standing in the center of the passage with a thoughtful expression on his face, extremely rare for the cheerful American. "Hey Japan, hold on a sec." Only when the Japanese man paused and turned to face him did he continue. "I haven't asked why you brought me along yet."

"Oh?" Something close to a smile stretched across Japan's face. "You've grown sharper, America-san."

"Well, I've been _reading the atmosphere_ a lot today. Thanks to that, I got what you were saying earlier the moment you said it."

"Have you? Then… I think I'll have a nice talk to you alone."

"'Kay. Just don't make me bored."

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

It was almost like the past two minutes hadn't even happened. The majority of the search party's members had retreated to the reading room and stopped there, on England's request. Andorra and Prussia had absolutely no clue what was going on. England did. Sort of.

"There's something unsettling about this place," England repeated to himself as he scanned the bookshelves for anything out of the ordinary. He didn't seem to notice the two impatient stares pointed at him from chairs at the other side of the room. "Something that feels like it's pulling me…" No matter how hard he looked, though, nothing seemed the tiniest bit suspicious. _Not here. Maybe…behind the bookshelf?_ He gripped the edges of the middle shelf and started pulling on it, his strength wavering.

Andorra saw all of this and leaned forward in her chair, watching with a blank look on her face. At least this is better than sitting around in a cell. "Need help with that?"

"I've got it!" England hissed, taking a brief moment of rest before making a final tug at the extremely heavy shelf. It only moved a foot away from its former place against the wall, but that was all the space he needed. Poking his head into the space, he glanced at the shelf's back, where the faintest gleam of green light pulsed in the shadows. _Oh, it's some kind of seal._ He passed his hand over the light, unsure of exactly what it was. A moment later, a complicated circle appeared outlined in the same green light, as far around as his the length of his forearm. All around it were cryptic images and words written in an oddly familiar script. "What? A magic circle…with my handwriting! What is it doing here?"

"How should I know?" was the response that Prussia offered to the confused Brit, although it went unnoticed.

England scanned over a few of the words, confirming his suspicions. There was no doubt that the circle was his own. _But what is it sealing?_ There was only one way to find out. "_Dic mihi, secretum, fatue… Dic mihi, secretum, fatue…_" He was in the middle of the third chant when he felt a strange feeling sweep over him, a newfound strength coursing through his veins. It felt like years since he had last felt it, even a little. "Oh! Some of my magic is back!"

Andorra, who had been spacing out for the past few minutes, drew her attention to the sudden excited cries of her fellow nation. "Huh?"

"This is it!" England didn't notice the attention he was bringing to himself, and if he did, he didn't care. "I was worried for a while there, but now I can at least try to fight the Thing if I need to!"

Hearing the faint sound of an opening door behind him, Prussia turned around and greeted the two who entered the room with a single question. "Hey, what took you so long?"

Japan paused beside the table, glancing between the three nations inhabiting the reading room. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that," Andorra stated, standing from her seat at the table and leaning back against the nearest wall. "England got his magic back – apparently."

England looked extremely pleased about this statement. "Some of it, yes. Next time, I won't be such a burden when we have to fight that Thing."

Looking over Japan's shoulder, America threw England a quizzical look. "What, you were a burden before? Well, if you say so."

"Now I can easily stop that guy, though only for a few seconds. Well…about two seconds…"

Andorra, Prussia, America, and Japan all shared the same thought. "…"

"Wh-what?" England's response could have been a response to anything; he could have been told that his food was horrible and he'd have the same reaction. "If I can replenish it a little more, it can be longer –"

Leave it to America to find a way to change the subject. "Hey, isn't that a clock?" He gestured to the bookshelf in the far corner. "Look, on the top shelf!"

"I see." From the look on Japan's face, he must have been relieved that he didn't have to try and redeem himself. "It certainly is one." He reached up and gently wrapped his hand around the clock, holding it lower to examine it. It looked just like al, the others: bronze, ironically tarnished by the hands of time itself, the annoying _tick, tick, tick_ filling the room with ominous background noise. However, this one had a green aura surrounding it, one that only England could see.

"Hm? This clock is working with my magic."

"So?" America didn't care if the clock was owned by a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. "Can we just break it now? If I don't go through that even once, I won't know how to deal with it!"

Well, England didn't care either. "You – Then I'll just sit back and laugh at you being all confused and panicking!"

Andorra chuckled amusedly. "You two are strange people."

"Please, don't fight." Japan forced himself between the arguing nations and spoke as calmly as possible in hopes of avoiding a fistfight. "Besides, we've already found an exit, so I don't think it's necessary to break the clock."

America put on his puppy dog eyes and whined, "Aww, but I want to get more experience! It's not every day that I can do that kind of thing. Can't I try it even once? Pretty please?"

Before any more arguing could pass between the two, Andorra snatched the clock out of Japan's hand and safely out of arms' reach. "I'll break it, then. I mean, what's so important about it, anyway?" She didn't give anyone a chance to speak before slamming the clock onto the table, the glass shielding its face shattering and flying across the wooden surface. Nothing seemed to happen, so Andorra turned back around to face the nations behind her. They were talking urgently among themselves, but no sounds came from their mouths; in fact, the entire room had gone purely silent the moment she smashed the clock. Someone started shaking her shoulders – she couldn't tell who – and a moment later, a bright flash or orange filled her vision, followed by a piercing darkness.

Five bodies fell to the floor.

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: CURSE YOU WRITER'S BLOCK. *throws chair at writer's block* I hate it so. And if any of you understood the reference I was making in the middle of this chapter…I feel sorry for you. *hugs***

**[1] – One and a half meters is about 5 feet, for all of you people who don't know the metric system.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N I'm sorry for the wait, you guys. I've been having writer's block just a bit this past week or so, and life has been pushing down on me a ton. But the point is, I'm done now, and everything's all good. However, I'm also going to be participating in a program called Camp NaNoWriMo, which is basically writing a crap-ton of stuff (i.e. a novel) in a month. That's going to last all through July, so I'm not sure I'm going to be updating much during then. But I'm trying to stockpile my chapters so I can release them as I go. Maybe I'll have enough for one per week, maybe not. I dunno. We'll just have to see later, okay? :) Thanks guys!**

**Chapter Twenty-four**

"Yes! We can finally escape, at long last!"  
_Huh?_ She blinked open her eyes, throwing herself into the mystery of the sudden change of time. _Oh, it's another memory. Maybe I passed out again…_ Dismissing her thoughts, she focused on her vaguely familiar surroundings. She was within the earthen tunnel, her back pressed against one of the support beams. Everything was a sickening shade of orange and yellow, distinguishing the memory from the real life she should have been in. Before her at the end of the tunnel were three figures, half-shrouded in the darkness. Despite the shadows, she could easily recognize them all, and when she took a single step forward, she came face-to-face with herself.

The three figures were Andorra, Yugoslavia, and Malta.

They were standing at the first corner in the tunnel, speaking quietly but excitedly to each other. Malta was the one who had spoken, a wide grin across her face and her hands stuffed into her pockets anxiously. Where the other nations were, no one would say.

Yugoslavia nodded, leaning back against the wall and examining her friends' faces. There was an exhausted, almost wistful look in her eyes, like she was too tired to voice her true excitement. "…Yes."

Pushing past her two friends, Andorra chuckled to herself and started marching toward the rope ladder at the other end of the tunnel. "You guys are too slow. I'll just go ahead and see if the thing's sturdy." No one rejected as she kept walking and slipped around the corner, disappearing from view.

_What? What are you doing? Why are you splitting up like that?_

Malta sighed and leaned back next to Yugoslavia. "I wish the others had come, too…but they really like adventures, I guess." Her eyes said that she didn't want to leave them behind, and her mind said that there was definitely something within the mansion that they should be afraid of more than Steve…

"Aaargh!"

The two female nations jumped nearly a foot in the air when they heard the scream. It was Andorra's, and there was obvious pain laced throughout the strangled cry.

Yugoslavia was the first to react, pushing herself off of the wall and dashing through the tunnel in pursuit of her friend. "Andorra!" She threw off Malta's arm when she tried holding her back, and only stopped running when she reached the corner.

Holding in her annoyed groan, Malta followed her friend, constantly remaining just a few feet behind. "Andorra, are you okay? Did you fall or something?"

A second later, Malta realized that she didn't fall.

Standing by the wall across from the rope ladder, Malta and Yugoslavia took in the shocking scene. Rather than seeing the ladder that had been there moments go, they saw a rather angry Steve surrounded by fiery rope remains, facing off against a pickaxe-wielding Andorra. There was a slice in the back of her shirt that was quickly being surrounded by a red stain, but her face was only marked with anger and persistence. "Yugo, Malta! Get out of here! …Run!" Her last sentence was nearly cut off when the Thing lunged at her, its claws nearly sinking into her arm.

_No,_ Yugoslavia thought, forcing herself not to believe the horrors right in front of her eyes. _No, there is still a way out! There has to be! If not…_ "The others are still here! England, Italy, Russia, everyone!"

Malta grabbed her friends' arms and pulled them back, saving Yugoslavia from a sudden attack by the deranged Thing. "What're you two standing around for?! Let's go! We've gotta get out of here, quickly!"

Andorra swung her pick at the Thing's eye to distract it and took off after her two friends, anger pulsing through her veins. "Just when we'd finally wound an exit…!" She didn't realize what was happening until her legs were swept out from underneath her and threw her onto the ground, her injured back slamming into the dirt. "Freaking –"

_No! This isn't right! It can't end this way!_

Forcing herself onto her side, Andorra found herself staring up at the Thing, which was looking down at her with a menacing glint in the coal shards of its eyes. The world froze around her. There was no possible way that she could escape now – had she been uninjured, she still couldn't stand and run fast enough to escape the monster's clutches. "Is this it…?"

Somewhere beyond the tunnel, a voice called out Andorra's name. That was the last thing she heard before red splattered her vision, her own blood coloring her last moments of life. She saw her heard beating at a thousand miles an hour, then everything faded away.

-x-

**Lost Andorra.**

-x-

…_Is this one of the possibilities of what may happen from now on? Am I glimpsing an event that might take place, after all? No, I can't worry about it. I have to do something. Maybe if I let Yugo or someone else know what happened –_

The scene returned around her, continuing at the moment where Andorra fell. Yugoslavia was grappling with the door as the memory redeveloped, and was able to fling it open and cross halfway through the threshold before Malta grabbed her arm from behind.

"Yugo, wait!" Malta's voice was more frightened than it had been for a long time. "Andorra tripped over a rock!"

That was all it took for the ex-nation to spin around and force her way past the island nation, a serious look set in her eyes. "Andorra!"

"Just go," Andorra spat, forcing herself onto her side and flinching when she spotted the Thing standing over her. "Don't come back!" She tried crawling backwards, but something held her foot to the ground when she yanked on it. _Crap, now my foot's stuck too –_

"Why do things never go right for us?!" The next thing Andorra knew, Yugoslavia charged at the Thing and gave it a few good slashes with her switchblade. "Just when we were finally going to get out, _you_ had to come back and ruin everything!" She lashed out with her foot and gave it a solid kick to the chest, causing the Thing to stumble backwards for just a second.

Andorra couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Yugo, stop it! Just run!" She left out the part about thinking that one of her best friends had just gone psycho.

"No! We still have a chance of getting out of here with everyone alive! _Everyone_! I am _not_ leaving you behind!" There was actually anger in Yugoslavia's voice – not just anger, but fury, extremely rare for the kind ex-nation. She spotted Malta pulling Andorra to her feet and didn't take another look back.

_No! Yugo, don't do it! Just –_

The Thing hissed and lunged at Yugoslavia, who stood her ground and literally stared into the face of danger. She didn't know that those moments would be her last.

-x-

**Lost Yugoslavia.**

-x-

_Crap! That wasn't supposed to happen! Even if I tell Yugo about it, someone would still die… Even though we're all countries, we're regular people in this place. I can't forget that. Gosh, why do I have to feel so helpless?! …Maybe if I did something before…if Andorra didn't fall over in the first place… I have to do something before that can happen. If I do that, I'm sure it'll be alright!_

-x-

Scene one, take three. This time, the three female nations were still at the end of the tunnel with the Thing, witnessing the brief yet epic battle between Andorra and Steve. The ladder was still in flames; Andorra was still bleeding; everyone was still alive.

_Here! If I do something right here…_

Andorra was just about to dodge an attack the Thing had sprung, but before she could, she was pushed aside and would have fallen over if Yugoslavia had not been there to catch her. She looked up and saw Malta swinging her meat cleaver in one hand, smiling victoriously as she watched the Thing hiss painfully and stumble backwards.

_Yes! This is the best case scenario so far!_

A second later, the Thing sprung for her and sliced through Malta's side, the three parallel lines barely missing her heart. Blood oozed out from the wounds and fell in crimson droplets onto the ground.

"Malta!" Two voices cried out as one, speaking the name of the wounded victim.

_It's no good… Besides, the more memories I get, the stronger the enemy becomes… Any more of this –_

"I knew it…" Yugoslavia closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, pulling her knife from her pocket and flicking her wrist to expose the blade. "Malta, Andorra…I am sorry. It looks like we still could not make it. It is stronger than it was in the beginning… I can not do this alone…"

Andorra stared at the ex-nation as if she had grown a second head. "What? Y-Yugo, what're you talking about?"

Malta turned away from the Thing for a moment and locked eyes with Yugoslavia. "Come on! If we just run –"

Forcing her way past her friends, Yugoslavia offered the Thing a fierce glare of warning. "I am sorry. I made a mistake yet again… I can not let you two suffer because of me…"

The Thing hissed loudly, taking a single step forward. If it had been a human adversary, it would have said only one thing: _I dare you._

_Don't do it, Yugo! Please!_

Ignoring the nations' pleas, the Thing launched itself toward Yugoslavia, cold bloodlust in its eyes and a challenging growl rising in its throat.

"You idiot!" Malta all but threw herself in front of Yugoslavia, shielding her friend's body from the attacks of the Thing. Or trying to. There was no time for Andorra to try and help before the Thing was on top of them, clawing and slicing with all of its might.

All that Andorra saw was fountains of red. Then she ran.

-x-

**Lost Yugoslavia and Malta.**

-x-

_What? How is that even possible?! No matter what I do, I'd still manage to lose my friends? What can I do, then? We might as well not come here at all! …But if we do that, then surely something else is going to happen, isn't that right? All that will happen is no matter what choice I make, I'll end up losing someone!_

_What can I do? What's the best thing to do?_

-x-

Back in the reading room, the effects of the clock were wearing off fast from the members of the reading room. There seemed to be very little excitement in the aftermath of the clock compared to the past few times; in fact, the strangest thing that happened was Japan and Andorra managing to trip over their own feet as they recovered.

England was the first to fully recover, so he kept watch as the others returned to normal. "Is everyone alright?"

Japan, his eyes pointed down in thought, nodded once. "…Yes."

"Yeah," Andorra agreed, sitting back on the edge of the table with a sigh. "I'm good."

"The awesome me is fine." This sentence doesn't even need a tagline.

America stretched his arms out behind him, suddenly feeling stiff for some reason. "That wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. …Um, so which one is real again?"

_Of course…_ "Try to sort it out while we go back," England instructed, not bothering to hide the much-deserved facepalm. "If you still can't figure it out, ask one of the others. No one else should be having trouble."

The idea of asking people for help didn't sit well with the hero. "Right… By the way, you look unfocused. How many fingers am I holding up, Iggybrows?" He held his hand back from England's face.

"Huh? Two fingers, obviously. And don't call me Iggybrows. We don't have time for this nonsense, you git."

_There are too many possibilities. It's almost too much for me to deal with… I feel like my head is going to explode. What can I do now? I can't do this alone…_

Andorra hopped up from her seat on the table, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "We should probably get going. It's been nearly fifteen minutes already. Besides, there's still more basement to look around, right?"

"Right."

-x-

_They have no idea._

_They have no idea what this is really about. They have no idea what I have been going through. I would tell them, but there is too much to explain…so many time loops' worth of pain and agony. How can I possibly explain it all? I have tried, but never succeeded. What makes this time any different? How do I know that we will succeed this time, that I will not have to start over again because of a fatality? Why do I still believe in myself, even after so many failures and so many broken promises?_

_Maybe it is the stress talking, but I have to keep moving. No one can see what I am trying so desperately to hide. Maybe I can get them all out without having to tell them. _

_Maybe._

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: Yeah, I know everyone else was supposed to be dead in the second memory. I just didn't like that too much for the plot, so I bent the world to my will. Just a little. :p**

**And here's something to think about: whose perspective is this chapter from? ;) Don't give yourselves headaches, now.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-five**

Word of the discovery of the rope ladder spread like wildfire through the basement cell room as the exploring party returned, the confusing memories pushed far into the depths of their minds. They were greeted by several shouts and calls from the nations who remained behind, and were quickly surrounded by them as they told their story with only a few exaggerated circumstances. The clock was all but forgotten.

Russia was the first to notice their return and quickly approached Andorra the moment she stepped into the room. "I heard you found an exit, _da_?"

"Yep!" Andorra grinned widely as she listened to her comrades tell their tales to the eager ears around them, feeling the weight of stress and fear lift off her shoulders and dissolve in the air. "We can finally escape!"

From the middle of the crowd, China sighed heavily. "It's about time, aru. This place keeps giving me the creeps…"

"…W-we should probably hurry, right?" The timid question came from Yugoslavia, who was hanging back from the crowd with a sudden eerie feeling of claustrophobia. It was almost too quiet to hear, but somehow America was able to take note of it and start whining in objection.

"We already have an exit secured! I want to explore a little! All I've seen was the basement and a little bit of the first floor. I wanna see what else is up there!"

Canada silently placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, causing the "hero" to flinch back in fright and silence himself. "Andorra, you can go ahead with the others. When America is like this, nothing can stop him."

"Well, we have to make sure that the rope isn't rotten," Andorra agreed, throwing a few glances at the other nations. "I'll just take Malta and Yugo with me. We'll go ahead and see if there are any problems."

A few low murmurs were passed through the crowd_. Only three of them? And all girls, at that. Is that even a good idea?_ Despite this, no one spoke against the idea.

"Fine by me." China obviously didn't have a problem with the arrangement. "I found some Chinese medicine that I wanted, and I need to go get it."

Malta, who had previously been in an odd state of quiet thoughtfulness, raised her voice above the others. "Before we go, can I talk to Prussia real quick? Everyone else can wait in the other room."

"Sure thing, awesome one." Prussia waved the others out, and a moment later was rewarded by the silence of a near-empty room. He turned to face Malta once again. "So, what's eating you?"

Normally, this would have been the point where Malta started talking and talking like an American in a Burger King, but this time was different. She was silent, a surefire sign of confusion and cluelessness. "Did you guys break a clock while you were gone?"

Prussia's grin faltered a little. No one had mentioned the clock when they were reporting their finds. How could Malta possibly know when she wasn't even there? "…Yeah. There was one in the room just before the ladder."

_I knew it._ Malta turned her eyes to the ground, staring past her feet at nothing in particular. _I knew there was another clock. There had to be…_ "Did you…see anything when you broke it? Scenes of anything that haven't already happened?"

"_Ja_. I don't remember the details, though. …Why all the sudden questions, awesome one? Did _you_ see something?"

Malta couldn't respond. She knew exactly what she was trying to say, but she just couldn't put it into words. _It's just too much to explain… How can I possibly explain it all?_ "…Well, from now on…if I make a choice, I'll lose someone, but if I follow a different path to save them, I'll lose someone else…" She couldn't bear to see Prussia's shocked expression, so she moved her gaze to the wall beside her. "I tried several options, but it was no use… The more I tried, the stronger Steve got. I can't do this alone any more –"

"You can't defeat it on your own?" It was impossible to describe the emotions in Prussia's voice at that moment. The most prominent, however, were worry and fear. "Then how did you do it until now?"

"When we had to fight it…I defeated it with Yugo and Andorra…and everyone else. I also fought alongside Russia and China –"

Despite the circumstances, Prussia chuckled to himself. "Huh! Why did you stop there?"

Malta was obviously confused. "…What?"

"You said you tried several options, right? But did you talk to anyone about it before you tried them? Do you really think you can come up with a solution all on your own when this fight involves so many people?"

_He's right. I didn't say anything before…_ "Oh."

"You should have said something before! But I'm glad you told me! _Kesesesesese~_! Now no one will have to die!"

A faint smile crossed Malta's face, masking the boiling chaos within the confines of her mind. You know what they say: smiles are the biggest lies. **[1]** "Yeah, I guess so. …Er, thanks for the talk." She started walking away, her footsteps almost silent against the stone of the floor, when a hand clamped down on her shoulder and forced her to turn around.

"I have a question," Prussia stated casually, his blood-red eyes locked on the island nation's hazel ones. "Just one. …How did you know about the clock? I mean, you've seen them before and all, but…why only you?"

Unable to immediately speak, she looked away, her eyes settling on a point somewhere into the distance. "…I don't know." She paused, as if she couldn't decide what to say next. "Wait a minute… If – if we go back to that place, then Andorra will… Uh, I mean, I'd be risking my life, too…and even Yugo –"

"State your opinion precisely and concisely," Prussia declared, affectionately tousling Malta's hair. "You think too much. That's why you're forgetting something simple!"

"…Something simple?"

"Yeah! When you're that worried about stuff, you should tell people. You have to let us work together and give yourself some breathing space. I'll give you points if you remember one more thing." Yeah, maybe "points" wasn't a very good motivational reward to offer the conflicted island nation, but it was the best thing that Prussia could think of at the moment. However, since she didn't respond, the two started the short walk out of the cell room and into the central hall of the basement, where the two groups should have been waiting for them.

Despite her silence, Malta's head was reeling with questions. _Since I've seen so many possibilities…I'm sure that Steve is getting stronger. With an enemy that grows progressively stronger, what can I possibly do?_

-x-

"Yes! We can finally escape, at long last!"

Before that moment, Malta had never had a worse case of déjà vu. Or maybe it wasn't, considering she actually had been in this exact situation before, at least three times. But let's just stick with the first concept, okay?

The real irony was that it was Malta herself who had said the words, a wide grin across her face and her hands stuffed into her pockets anxiously. She could now feel the faint chill that wafted through the earthen tunnel and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. The only others accompanying her were Yugoslavia and Malta, who were on either side of her at the first corner in the tunnel, speaking quietly but excitedly to each other.

Yugoslavia, standing at Malta's left, nodded, leaning back against the wall and examining her friends' faces. There was an exhausted, almost wistful look in her eyes, like she was too tired to voice her true excitement. "…Yes."

Pushing past her two friends, Andorra chuckled to herself and started marching toward the rope ladder at the other end of the tunnel. "You guys are too slow. I'll just go ahead and see if the thing's sturdy." No one rejected as she kept walking and slipped around the corner, disappearing from view.

_Wait… Now! I have to say something now!_ Forcing herself out of her daze, Malta left Yugoslavia behind and reached for Andorra's arm. "Wait, Ando –" But she was too late. Her Iberian friend had already disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel, stubbornly moving along with her mission.

Defeated, Malta took a single step back. _There's no time left. I can't call out to her, but I can't physically stop her, either. Steve must be stronger, too. _She found herself pausing for a split second. _…Wait a minute. Steve is definitely stronger. Whenever I saw a memory, its strength and speed had increased greatly. But it wasn't…just the enemy…_

"Aaargh!"

The two female nations jumped nearly a foot in the air when they heard the scream. It was Andorra's, and there was obvious pain laced throughout the strangled cry. It sounded so similar to the memory that Malta felt a shiver flow down her spine.

Yugoslavia was the first to react, pushing herself off of the wall and dashing through the tunnel in pursuit of her friend. "Andorra!" She threw off Malta's arm when she tried holding her back, and only stopped running when she reached the corner.

Malta followed her friend, constantly remaining just a few feet behind. "Andorra, are you okay? Did you fall or something?" _Maybe what Prussia was trying to tell me is that –_

She might as well have been thrown into the lions' den, standing face to face with danger itself and having nothing to protect herself with. And yet she felt oddly calm. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but the only thing that she wanted to do at that moment was find Steve and kick its no-good alien butt all the way into the next continent.

_There it is._

Standing by the wall across from the rope ladder, Malta and Yugoslavia took in the shocking scene. Rather than seeing the ladder that had been there moments go, they saw a rather angry Steve surrounded by fiery rope remains, facing off against a pickaxe-wielding Andorra. There was a slice in the back of her shirt that was quickly being surrounded by a red stain, but her face was only marked with anger and persistence.

"Yugo, Malta! Get out of here! …Run!" Her last sentence was nearly cut off when the Thing lunged at her, its claws nearly sinking into her arm.

_No,_ Yugoslavia thought, forcing herself not to believe the horrors right in front of her eyes. _No, there is still a way out! There has to be! If not…_ "The others are still here! England, Italy, Russia, everyone! We can not leave them behind!"

Malta knew exactly what she was to say next. _What're you two standing around for?! Let's go! We've gotta get out of here, quickly!_ However, she just couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead, she stood her ground, her eyes following the Thing as it circled its future victims. Its eyes locked on Yugoslavia, followed by a quiet warning hiss.

Andorra heavily swung her pick at the Thing, trying to draw its attention away from her pacifistic friend. "What the heck are you two waiting for?! Just run –"

"– All together!" Yugoslavia finished Andorra's sentence for her, her fingers curling around the handle of her switchblade, her eyes never leaving the Thing's. "If we run, we can still make it!"

Following the example o her friends, Malta put a firm grip around the handle of her cleaver. _Steve may be tough, but I'm still faster. I can't do this alone. However…_ Before she could do anything more, she was grabbing her friends' arms and pulling them back, saving Yugoslavia from a sudden attack by the deranged Thing.

Andorra swung her pick at the Thing's eye to distract it and took off after her two friends, anger pulsing through her veins. "Just when we'd finally wound an exit…!" She didn't realize what was happening until her legs were swept out from underneath her and threw her onto the ground, her injured back slamming into the dirt. "Freaking –"

_There it is!_ Malta skidded to a halt, her hold on Yugoslavia's arm yanking the ex-nation back. "Yugo, wait! Andorra tripped over a rock!"

That was all it took for Yugoslavia to spin around and attempt to force her way past the island nation, only to be held back by her friend's death grip. "Andorra!"

"Crap! I don't want to die here…" Andorra tried crawling backwards, but something held her foot to the ground when she yanked on it. "Just go! I can't get this vine off!"

In an act of determination, Yugoslavia broke from Malta's grip and unsheathed her blade, rushing back to assist her friend. "Andorra!"

Malta couldn't stand to see this. Everything was going wrong, and if the memories were correct, this was not going to end well for anyone within the room. Suddenly, it came to her. If this had been a cartoon from the mid-20th century, she would have had a light bulb appear over her head.

"Why do things never go right for us?!" The next thing Andorra knew, Yugoslavia charged at the Thing and gave it a few good slashes with her switchblade. "Just when we were finally going to get out, _you_ had to come back and ruin everything!" She lashed out with her foot and gave it a solid kick to the chest, causing the Thing to stumble backwards for just a second.

"Yugo –"

"No! We still have a chance of getting out of here with everyone alive! _Everyone_! I am _not_ leaving you behind!" There was actually anger in Yugoslavia's voice – not just anger, but fury, extremely rare for the kind ex-nation.

_I get it now! My mistake was to try to solve everything on my own. And the reason why we kept being defeated was my stubbornness. I didn't pay attention to anyone but the enemy._ A new wave of adrenaline coursed through Malta's veins as she ran back and took up a place beside her friends. "I get it now! The enemy is stronger, but so are we! If we all join forces, we can defeat it!"

Andorra and Yugoslavia exchanged a look. Both said the same thing; _where did _that_ come from?_ The moment of confusion lasted not even a second, however, when Andorra continued her struggle against the vine pinning her ankle to the ground. "You idiots! Why did you come back?!"

Yugoslavia stared back at Steve and refused to look down again. "Do you want to know why I came back? Because…I can not think of a reason why I wouldn't help my best friend!"

With the ex-nations ominous words, the Thing offered its victims a final hiss of warning, as if it was saying…

_Let the games begin._

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: Best. Chapter. Ever. …Not really. *shot* Bending the plot to fit around an extra set of characters and editing it to line up with said characters' mannerisms is hard work. Eh, at least I was able to make it work semi-smoothly. I've been making up a lot of dialogue lately… :)**

**[1] – "Smiles are the biggest lies" © Lady Charity, a fellow Fanfictionite and the amazing author of Seven Pieces of Chalk. If you haven't read her fanfic yet, DO IT. DO IT NOW. It's fanfiction at its finest, trust me.**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N By the way…you just lost the game.**

**Chapter Twenty-six**

The battle was brutal. It seemed to last for hours, endless streams of attacks from either side inflicting an infinite number of wounds, both physical and mental. In no time, crimson splattered the floor in a grotesque abstract painting, dotting the shoes of the nations fighting the emotionless monster of the mansion. Or course, it was stronger than before; if Andorra had been unable to rip her foot from the vine pinning it down at the last second, they probably wouldn't have had a standing chance against the Thing. It took every ounce of their combined strength just to hold it back. Only when the three nations surrounded it on all sides and unleashed their most powerful attacks did the Thing recoil, stumbling backwards just long enough to make a hasty escape.

"Let's get out of here," Malta panted as she ran alongside her two friends through the tunnel and into the light of the basement. "We can't physically defeat it!"

Andorra shut the door behind them and turned the lock, hopefully holding the Thing long enough for them to flee to somewhere safer. "Yugo, you look pale. Are you alright?"

Somehow, the run didn't even cause Yugoslavia to break a sweat. In fact, she had looked more exhausted before the actual fight. "I… I am fine," she said between breaths, her lungs desperate to regain their lost oxygen. "…We have to…go back, and fast."

No one disagreed, and the small party of nations once again started on their trek for safety – at a slightly slower pace.

_Thank goodness…_ Malta couldn't help but crack a small smile. I can't feel completely relieved, but this is still something!

As they passed through the reading room and into the main corridor of the basement, a sudden chill swept down their spines. Almost by instinct, they all turned around, half-expecting Steve to reappear behind them just as he had moments ago in the tunnel. But there was nothing; nothing except…

"Sunflower!"

Malta's fleeting smile passed on to Andorra hen she heard the nickname, and she took a few steps farther, revealing a surprisingly calm Russia standing by the iron bars crossing the hall. It seemed like he had been waiting for them – either that, or he had somehow managed to scare off the rest of the world. Of course, that didn't mater to her. "Russia!"

Russia replied with a warm grin, stepping forward to give Andorra a hug. He was just about to when he stopped, one hand barely touching the small of her back. When he pulled back his arm, the fingertips of his gloves were stained in crimson. "Andorra, you're hurt. What happened?"

"No time!" Malta slipped through the door after them, Yugoslavia trailing silently behind. "We can't use that exit! It's been burned out! We have to run _now_!"

Russia nodded, his smile morphing into an expression of complete seriousness. "I see. Good thing you found me. Let's hurry. The others should be back any minute now."

Speaking of others, it was at that moment that France breezed through the door at the end of the corridor, not noticing the four countries running toward him until they nearly ran him over. "Russia, they –"

Andorra grabbed the edge of her brother's cape and dragged him behind her when he wouldn't get out of her way. "Exit's burned out! Steve's following us!" Apparently, she couldn't manage anything longer than three-word replies.

"Oh, so we can't use it anymore?" France decided not to attempt rousing Andorra's wrath and let himself be dragged. "Too bad…"

The next person the growing group of fleeing nations found was China, leaning against the wall of the next room – one with several small stools surrounding a large table. A naked bulb angled from the ceiling above the table, illuminating the place with a dusty yellow glow. Just beyond China stood Japan, waiting in the doorway. He appeared to be muttering something to himself, but turned his attention toward his surroundings when the others burst through the door.

"The exit is blocked," Russia informed the two Asian nations as he scooted around the table. "We have to find another door."

China was obviously the more surprised of the two. "Really?! Let's hurry, aru!"

Loitering in the hall just beyond were Canada, Germany, and Italy. None of them looked at all interested with what was happening – Italy was chattering to himself, Germany was trying to block it out, and Canada was just being Canada. But that changed when the door opened and the ever-growing group slipped through, casting worried glances behind them.

"I-I see," Canada stated after having Yugoslavia explain the situation to him. "That's too bad. Anyway, let's hurry. America, England, and Prussia are in that room over there." He gestured to the door at the other end of the hall, leading the way to what might have been an easy escape.

-x-

The place was a small square room lined with dingy stone walls the color of an old steel knife. The floor was a similar material, and soft noises echoed off the walls without a struggle. A door stood in the center of the far wall, the only form of decoration in sight. Thirteen figures stood in a circle in the center of the room; these were the nations, once everyone was gathered and had finally agreed upon the decision of having an emergence meeting. Aggravation and nervousness hung heavy in the air, musty and grimy from years of abandonment.

"You can't be serious!" England ran a hand through his messy hair, exasperation in his voice. "Just when we thought we were finally going to get out…"

"Lock the door," Canada exclaimed, his voice easily the quietest in the room. It was nearly impossible to hear him, and under different circumstances, it would have been.

It took Malta less than a second to lock the door, afterwards putting several feet between herself and the door – just in case.

From his place near the back wall, America made a very profound observation. "Wow. So, now we're all assembled in this tiny room."

A very annoyed Andorra shot him a death glare worthy of the mighty Russia. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, all she could feel was the pain from the deep slice in her back. "No dip, Sherlock."

Malta, on the other hand, smiled slightly. _That was crazy… Geez. For a moment there, I really thought we weren't going to make it!_

Andorra murmured profanities under her breath. It was obvious to tell that she was in a horrible mood. "Even though we all got together, our situation still hasn't gotten any better! We're still locked up in here and that f…monster is still after us!" She threw a glare at Yugoslavia, remembering her friend's silent rule about cursing.

"Calm down," Japan retorted, exhaustion in his voice but carefully concealed by a veil of seriousness. "There's no need to be pessimistic. What matters is that we are all alive. Someone will eventually notice that some nations are gone, even if it's only a few, and they'll come to help…"

France huffed, "Probably."

…_That's weird._ An odd sensation slunk into the back of Malta's mind. _I…I feel like I'm forgetting something important…_

"Besides," China supplied, "we still need to connect the time we spend here with the time in the outside world. We have to keep breaking the clocks, aru."

Russia nodded, twisting his pipe in both hands. "_Da_, that's the best shortcut. Except we'll need our strength somehow…" Before anyone could question him, he continued. "You'll probably agree with me, but…we're quite tired. Not from fighting the enemy, but from running away all the time."

"Ve~ I am kind of tired…" Italy sang halfheartedly from his place standing beside Germany. He didn't show much of an interest in comprehending the bulk of the conversation.

Germany wanted to tell him that he hadn't even done anything yet except run away, but he couldn't say much more of himself. Instead, he took in a deep breath. "Maybe escaping really is impossible… And now…we're probably going to get eaten one by one! That's what I would do, if I were that Thing!"

Canada didn't fare well with that comment. He stammered, "I-isn't that a l-little d-depressing?"

_Yeah, that's right. Someone made a comment about being eaten _– That fact did not give Malta happy thoughts. – _and then Prussia got mad…and then what?_

Prussia crossed his arms over his chest, his temper quickly rising with each added comment. "Chill out, West! We only lost one way! There's still plenty of other ways to get out of here!"

Malta dug her fingernails into the flesh of her palm, straining her mind for any faint memories of the memories. _What is it? What is it?! What am I forgetting? Remember, remember! If I don't, then –_

"Malta."

The statement that ripped Malta from her thoughts was Andorra's. She was standing beside Russia near one of the corners, a somber expression in her eyes. The pain must have worn off too, because she had calmed down almost entirely from her previous outbursts. "…I'm sorry. And thanks…for what you did earlier. Back there with Steve. This time, I'm going to make it up to you for saving me. I'm sorry I was a burden."

_Andorra? A burden?_ The thought nearly made Malta laugh. _Since when? Well, there was that one time… But that wasn't her fault!_

Yugoslavia said what Malta was only thinking. "Andorra, it is okay. You are not –"

"Shut up, Yugo." Okay, maybe Andorra's temper wasn't completely gone. "If I can't protect my friends when I have the chance, then I'm not a good enough friend. At the very least, I shouldn't be such a burden to you. I'm sorry, too. You guys are better fighters than I thought. I appreciate the help."

Malta wasn't sure how to respond; on the other end of the circle, Yugoslavia seemed torn between pride and disbelief. "What? …Oh, um, thank you…"

_Wait a second._ Something was wrong all of a sudden, and Malta knew it.

"I think we can definitely get out now," Yugoslavia continued, turning her eyes downward toward the floor. "You see, this is the first time that –" She froze. Her shoulders stiffened.

England noticed, even if no one else did. "Y? Is something wrong?"

_In the memory, someone was standing in front of the door when Steve showed up…_

Yugoslavia couldn't dare to look up at her comrades. "Please… Please, if you get out, just keep running. No matter what, run straight ahead. Do not look back, do not forget about me, do not blame me, do not cry, a-and time –"

_It was Yugoslavia._

"You're shaking," Canada pointed out, briefly interrupting Yugoslavia's eerie monologue.

_Wait, wait! Time… It was after that line…_ Malta gasped in shock, pushing her way out of the circle and toward her friend. "Yugo!"

By then it was too late. It was at that moment that the Thing decided to burst through the door at Yugoslavia's back, the sudden arrival announced with the _crack_ of splitting wood. Its claws ripped at the door and shaved bits of wood from its surface, throwing them around the room and at the gathered nations. Everyone spun around in shock and surprise – except for Yugoslavia, who only gazed at her friends with a brave but downcast look in her eyes.

"Yugo, get out of there!" Malta hissed the order through gritted teeth, her eyes never leaving those of the Thing. It was standing directly behind Yugoslavia, so close that the ex-nation could probably reach back and touch it – that is, if nothing happens first.

But Yugoslavia refused to stand down. She knew what was happening. She knew how close the Thing was to her, but she didn't dare move. Her eyes swept over every face in the room before returning to those she loved the most. "…It was scary, but…" A soft, dismal smile creased her lips. "…it was fun."

The Thing suddenly pounced, its outstretched claws slowly moving in on Yugoslavia's head and body. It was as if time stood still; it hung in the air, a never-ending snarl splitting the previous silence. Another cry accompanied it, a chorus of voices, a collective song of grief, pain, and total fear.

"YUGOSLAVIAAAA!"

-x-

_**Survivors: -**_

_**Missing: -**_

_**Deceased: -**_

-x-

**A/N: *trolling* :D I'm sure you all saw that one coming. Epic cliffhanger ending~! I hope you're spazzing out, because the awesomeness continues…in the next chapter!**

**While I'm at a convenient stopping point-slash-cliffhanger-thing, I'll announce my all-new OC giveaway of awesomeness! Alright, so there is one detail of my chapters that are always the same, no matter what (grammar and spelling errors not included). However, I have gone back and changed one thing about one of my past chapters. All you have to do is tell me what's different, then say the first sentence before or after it! If you're the first one to find it, then your OC will be added into my fanfic! :D (I already have ideas on where to add him/her later on in the plot.) If you end up being the only one to find it, then you still get an OC in my story. If you find any other screw-ups that I've made…I'll see what I can do. :) Now, start searching, my fellow Hetalians!**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Hey guys. I just wanted to say that I have one more chapter for you (and that this will definitely be the last chapter before the end of the month…you know, probably). Normally I try to have one chapter already done and waiting to be put onto the Internet before I finish another, but chapter 28 is just being screwy. I hate it so much. I've already gone through two completely different formats for that chapter, which both end up being extremely stupid, so I'm just gonna take the easier one even though it's still horrible. Maybe I'll finish that one before the end of the month. ^j^ Now, go on with this chapter! Remember that reviews are much appreciated! (HINT HINT)**

**Chapter Twenty-seven**

_A single action can change the flow of time… A single second can alter a person's life forever…_

-x-

"_So Japan, what did you want to tell me?"_

_America was standing in the center of the passage with a thoughtful expression on his face, extremely rare for the cheerful American. To one side of him was Japan and the supposedly sturdy rope ladder; to his other side was empty space, the dirt tunnel leading back to the basement. A chill wafted in from the hole in the ceiling above him, forcing him to cross his arms over his chest to ward it away._

_Japan, however, didn't seem to notice. "You still have much strength left, don't you?"_

"_Yeah, I'm still a lot stronger than you guys." I don't think America realized how narcissistic he sounded when he said that._

_A faint chuckle rumbled in Japan's throat. "In that case…why don't you try being a hero?"_

_The word "hero" is what really sparked the American's attention. "Now that's an interesting idea! Tell me more!"_

-x-

_It was just moments after the girls left to investigate the rope ladder. No one was really doing anything yet – a few of the nations had split up to have their own individual talks, and America had managed to drag Prussia and England with him to explore a bit more of the basement. They had come across a small square room lined with dingy stone walls and a floor darkened with a faint layer of dust. There wasn't anything interesting about the room; that in itself made it interesting. Why would a space like this be wasted? Of course, that thought wasn't going through the minds of the three nations taking a look around. What they were really thinking was…_

"_This place is lame." Okay, so it was actually only Prussia who was thinking it. Don't sue me._

_England, who had put plenty of room between the others and himself, was standing by the back wall and chanting something under his breath. Beneath his feet, a green circle glowed faintly in the dark, but after only a second it wavered and disappeared from view. This happened twice, to England's disappointment. "Just as I thought, my magic won't work properly…" He pondered this for a moment. Even that boost of magic he had received in the reading room wasn't sufficient for much more than momentary defense._

_Looking up from his directionless searching across the room, America threw a glance at England's failed attempts. "England."_

_The Brit nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden call. "What?"_

"_You can stop the Thing for two seconds if you summon up all your magic power now, right?" America sat down against the wall he was examining, his focus now away from the room around him._

He's making that sullen face like Japan did!_ "Y-yes. Where'd you hear about that?"_

_Across the room, Prussia raised a hand without looking up. "The awesome me told him! He asked, so I told him."_

_This interruption didn't deter England at all. "You don't really _believe_ me, do you? You still think I'm –"_

"_Strange?" Prussia supplied, crossing his arms with amusement. "Weird? Ridiculous? Peculiar? Psycho? Mental? _Ja_, you're all of that. And more! _Kesesesesese~!_" His laugh broke into a cough when he caught sight of England's glare. "…Point is, can't you try doing better than that?"_

_For a moment, England considered whether he should really have been listening to two-thirds of the Awesome Trio for advice. It seemed completely ridiculous at the time. _Then again, what do I have to lose?_ "It might be longer if I try so hard that I'll pass out. I can't so it unless I get quite serious. I-I can try doing it in three seconds at most."_

"_Three seconds!" Prussia chuckled. "Impressive. While we're at it, let's see if we can push it up to four! I'm kidding," he added, barely dodging a sharp blow from the Englishman's fist. _

"_England," America said again, whapping Prussia on the shoulder as he passed him. "Two seconds is long enough. …To save the life of one nation, you know."_

_All of a sudden, Prussia's face turned semi-serious, matching America's in an extremely unnatural way. "Yeah. Besides, if you do pass out, America will just carry you on his shoulders and run."_

Is it even possible that these two have a drop of seriousness in them?_ England found it hard to believe, but the longer he spent with his gaze swapping between their solemn faces, the more belief he found winding through his mind. "…Alright. So what do you two have in mind?"_

"_Okay, so first I heard from Malta –"_

_It was Prussia's second slap of the day, this time delivered to the head by a very annoyed America. The American was animated all of a sudden, flailing his arms and just generally spazzing out all of a sudden. "Dude, don't tell him yet! You're supposed to wait for the the next scene so that everyone's in suspense!"_

"_Oh. Right! _Kesesesesese!_ So…"_

-x-

_Meanwhile, in a somewhat unrelated part of the plot, another group was meeting in the room with the couches, talking about something that had been bought to the attention of a few by an outside source who at this moment will remain anonymous. This group was made up of the people not in any of the other groups, namely Russia, France, China, Japan, Canada, Italy, and Germany. Everyone had taken a seat around the table and started their own discussion with very little interruptions; even Italy, usually distracted and spacey at world meetings, was sitting up and listening carefully._

"_So," Russia began, rolling his palms impatiently on the table, "it looks like_Kuzen Yugoslavii _could be in danger. _Amerika_ and _Prussiya_ said that we have to be ready to fight right away."_

She had been acting very…odd recently.

_Across the table, France nodded his understanding. "Ah, that's why they insisted to go and take a look ahead. But we are nations, aren't we? I don't see why he'd worry about something like that…"_

"_No." Canada was sitting beside France, and for once his voice was actually heard. "As long as we're here, we should think of ourselves the same way as ordinary people. In other words, we have to know that we can…die at any time."_

She's been quiet, but that's not all…

_A shudder shot down the spines of the gathered nations. Italy found himself bringing his knees to his chest as if that could protect him. "Th-that sounds scary…"_

"_Are you serious?!" China fumed, standing and wringing his hands. "It'd be such a bother if I died! But I can't just watch a fellow nation die and do nothing about it, either!"_

…It's in her eyes too. She's never been like that before. Maybe…

_Germany followed suit, ripping his arm from Italy's vice grip. "It's settled, then. We have to be ready to fight at any moment, because we don't know where it'll come from."_

"_Wait a moment, Germany-san," Japan interjected, remaining seated at the edge of the couch. "Can't we just use the exit that Andorra-chan and the others are checking?"_

_Canada, putting a little space between himself and the panicking France, responded, "If we can, that will be our first priority. …But for some reason, I have a feeling that we won't be able to get out of here so easily. If by any chance we can't use it…"_

Maybe she can hear them too…

"_That's a sign that _Yougoslavie_is in danger. It's very likely that it'll come back, so shouldn't we be careful with the doors and such?" France found himself looking over his shoulder for something, but he couldn't say what._

"Da_, that's right. I'll be waiting in the closest spot. I'm really fatigued, but maybe I can shield them."_

That would explain so much. But Yugoslavia dying… He wouldn't let that happen, would He? I can't take her place, but I can still try to do something. Maybe then I can show them who I really am…

"_I think I'll also wait as close as possible to them," France decided, his natural arrogance taking the place of fear. "Maybe our enemy will retreat upon looking at my beautiful face." When he was pinned to the couch by the sharp glares of Germany, Russia, Canada, and (_Has the world gone mad?!_) Italy, he held up his hands in surrender. "I wouldn't dare do anything to _ma sœur_ or _ses beaux amis_~!" _**[1]**

"_Then I'll wait with Japan in the room after that one. If you're defeated, we'll do something, aru!"_

_Canada added, "The rest of us can be in the room after that. It looks like America is working over some strategy, and if anything happens, we'll spread the word."_

_Germany, crossing his arms soundlessly over his chest, gave a faint nod of approval. "Alright. If anything happens, they should be back soon. Until they return, no one is to leave their places. You will remain in your groups at all times – no group swapping! Understood?" Needless to say, everyone said yes, responding with halfhearted nods and faint murmurs. "Well then. Everyone…good luck."_

-x-

Death was definitely an option. Heck, death was pretty much the only way this far in. She didn't try to stop it – if it would end the humiliation of her infinite failures, then it was certainly welcome. _This is not so bad,_ she considered in her last moments. _Is this all that I have been avoiding? Is this really what I have been experiencing so many times?_

Of course, it took her a second to realize that she wasn't dead.

Yugoslavia finally opened her eyes when she felt herself being dragged backwards by the arms. Of course she knew where she was. Of course she knew what should have been happening. However, she wasn't expecting anything that she saw before her. As she was dragged back, she noticed two figures standing between her previous standing place and the now wounded Thing. One had dusty blonde hair and a metal pipe in both hands, replacing his pistols; the other's hair was pure white, and had a death grip on the hilt of a darkened steel sword. America and Prussia.

"America!"

"Preußen!"

Then came the voices: Canada and Germany. _So their plan was not known to everyone._ Yugoslavia felt herself being propped up against a wall, and at that moment a face came into view to her right. It was Italy, offering not a word but a comforting smile as he made himself busy wrapping bandages around her head.

Meanwhile, Prussia and America were glaring at the Thing as it stumbled backward from their latest attack. Prussia didn't bother looking back when he heard Italy. Instead, he sent a well-deserved growl in its direction. "Sorry, but Yugo's my ex-nation buddy! You'll have to settle with eating _mein sword of awesomeness_!"

Ushering his fellow nations away from the fight, Canada called out, "America! Watch out for –"

America narrowly avoided being sliced in half by the Thing's claws, but he easily deflected them with carefully timed dodge. "England! _Now_!"

"Right!" From out of nowhere, an old leather-bound book opened itself in England's hand, pages turning by some silent wind. An aura of green surrounded him as he locked eyes on the Thing's burly body, his lips curling into a snarl. "_Impedimenta!_"

Four circles appeared on the floor on all sides of the Thing, their own emerald glow growing stronger with every passing moment. The Thing hissed and tried to move away from the circles, but as it moved toward the nations it froze in place, electricity crackling through the air. In that second, lightning rained down upon their enemy, shattering to sparks on the ground and stunning Steve at least for the time being. Everyone had shielded their eyes to keep from being blinded by the spectacle – all but England, who with fading strength stood his ground.

As the blinding flashes faded, America and Prussia turned to the others, their serious faces making everything seem just that much more frightening. "Everyone, get your weapons! Let's all attack together! Is Yugo okay?!"

Yugoslavia was mute with shock. None of this was making any sense in her mind. _Maybe I hit my head when I fell…_ She was thankful when Italy spoke for her, staying back from the battle with his lack of weapons.

"Ve~ She'll be alright. It's just a little blood."

Meanwhile, America had turned his attention to England, who was now struggling to maintain control over the powerful attack. "England, you can stop now! You did a great job!"

Giving only a nod of understanding, England collapsed against the wall to the Thing's right, chest heaving with exhaustion. "Sorry… You take it…from here…"

Gripping her pickaxe tightly in both hands, Andorra glared at the Thing with a look of such anger that she was even starting to freak Russia out a little. "Alright Steve. You might have hurt me, but never, _eve_r would I let you hurt _my friends_!" With her fellow nations at her back, she leaped at the Thing, ready to give it a taste of its own medicine.

_And so it begins…again._

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: WHY DOES THIS SUCK GOSH DARN IT *headdesk* I'm a horrible person.**

**[1] – There's too many translations for France. (I always make him speak more French than he does in the anime… *sigh*) Just look it up yourself. Don't worry, nothing's perverted.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-eight**

"_I have found something…something else about this place."_

How was it possible? How was it possible for him to be alive? Surely his attack on the Thing would have drained all of his magic, and without that, what was he?

"_What do you possibly mean by that?"_

England opened his eyes. He was no longer lying on the floor of the tiny basement room with his fellow nations standing around him. The monster was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was surrounded by an infinite white void, floating on air with nothing in sight but his own two hands. "What the…" His voice echoed, as if he was standing in a darkened cave rather than this place. He stood; his feet pressed down on the nothingness below him. Other voices came to him, sounding distant and hollow. He could not hear the words for most. But he could hear two voices clearer than anything else. He remembered hearing them not too long ago, for he was one of the two that spoke them. He could see the scene in his mind: the nations (minus Germany and Japan) walking from the safe in the pantry to the tatami room on the first floor, he holding a key, she all but pacing the floor beside him, everyone else gathered behind them. It was hard to say whether or not he was imagining all of this…or if his disabled mind was telling the truth.

"_I mean…" Yugoslavia knit her hands behind her back, staring at a point on the floor somewhere beneath her feet. "…It is complicated, but…I feel like there is something more to this mansion than just escaping unharmed. The flow of time in my mind is being…scrambled, almost. Like I have seen everything I do a hundred times already."_

_England placed a hand on her shoulder, though at the moment he couldn't do much more to comfort her. "That's happening for all of us, love. You remember the incident in the piano room. It's probably just –"_

"_No," Yugoslavia snapped, "that is not it. I –" Yugoslavia suddenly cut herself off when the group came to the outside of the tatami room, not allowing her voice to be heard for a long time._

_She never finished her sentence._

Pushing off the memory, England stifled a groan of annoyance. "I'm unconscious," he stated to himself, folding his arms as if to prove a point. "I'm unconscious because I drained my magic trying to hold off that Thing. I'm not thinking straight. I shouldn't listen to myself." He tried not to think too hard on that one.

"_You have reached Arthur Kirkland. I can't answer the phone right now, but feel free to leave a message at the tone. If you are calling about a party, the answer is no, Alfred."_

He had to do a double take when he heard his own voice talking back to him as if he had tried calling himself. "What the…? That's my voicemail! What's going on here?!" His attempts of calling out to someone proved pointless as his voice was drowned out by the flat beep indicating the beginning of a message recording.

"_Hello, Arthur? It's Anna…"_

England almost couldn't believe his ears. Was he seriously hearing a message on his own mobile phone? "…Wales?"

_Wales continued with her message, unable to hear the Brit's surprised cries. "I tried calling a few times just now, but you wouldn't pick up. Are you alright? You all have been at that mansion for a long time now, and some of us are starting to worry. You probably don't have reception all the way out there, but call me as soon as you get this message. Scotty keeps asking me if you're dead, and it's starting to get really annoying. Just hurry up, okay? Bye."_

_Click._

The last sound of the answering machine reverberated around the empty space, hitting England's ears time and time again until it was impossible to hear anything else. Billions of one-sided conversations emerged from the deafening noise, only fractions of logical speech prodding at his eardrums.

"…_there is something very wrong about this house…"_

"…_was a piano. It has to be."_

"_It was never easy. It never will be."_

"_It's just a little blood."_

"…_looked like he used a lot of energy."_

"_I think you should practice your smile a little more."_

England clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block out the disembodied statements that threatened to drive him to insanity. However, they just got louder and more the fierce the longer he tried.

"_Say it in front of everyone. Who lured them here?"_

"_You mean…for everyone, right?"_

"_We should think that she's already seen it many times over."_

"_I hate this… Even here, it is affecting me."_

"…_don't you feel kind of weird to think that you could still die?"_

"…_we have to think of the nations we bear on our shoulders…"_

"Stop it!" England's pained cry was dwarfed by the indescribable chorus of voices screaming at him from all around. "Please, just stop all of it! Why are you doing this?" he had absolutely no idea who he would have been talking to, but that didn't stop him from releasing the tension building up inside of him.

"_I have to get out with everyone…with all of you…"_

"_Why can I not remember? Why can I not do anything to help myself?"_

"_I almost feel like a shell of my former self."_

"_I am no longer who I was, and never will I be the same ever again…."_

The blinding white surrounding him slowly darkened into black as the voices drifted away, replaced by the dull, eerie ring of silence. Just before the darkness took over, he heard one more, voice, a voice that he should have known oh so well.

"_Lives, lived, will live. Dies, died, will die. It is all the same, really. The only variable is when…"_

-x-

"Huh. Well that went over better than I thought. Everyone is here. It's a good thing we made it all here in time. I'm glad."

_What…? Where is that voice coming from?_

"Awesome! So what is this place, awesome one? Did you make it?"

"It is amazing…"

"Yugo's right, Malta! How did you do all of this?"

A second set of voices weaved their way into the silence as the light around England returned, burning at his eyes and forcing him to shut them again. All around him were the inviting colors of wood and gentle light spread around from somewhere behind his head. The conclusions his mind drew without permission forced him to attempt sitting up, emitting a stiff groan as he did. "Ugh…"

A group of figures suddenly bend over England, looking down at faces hidden by shadows. He realized he must have been on the floor then – it was certainly hard and stiff under his back. One of them decided to speak, as another moved back out of England's vision.

"Oh, hey! Are you awake, bro?"

The voice was too obvious to identify from the way it seemed to ooze heroism and self-confidence. Not only that, but as the moments passed, England's eyes grew sharper, and he was able to distinguish a pair of bright blue eyes from beneath the shadow. "Wh-where am I?" His voice was scratchy and weak. "What's happening? Don't tell me we…got out?" The slightly somber looks the nations crowded around him offered answered his question better than words ever could. "…I guess not…"

An arm around his shoulders pulled him into a sitting position, giving him a better perspective of his surroundings. They were in a huge room made almost completely of wood, with a pair of tables to the west and areas for cooking and sleeping to the east. A door lead off to somewhere on the far wall, beside it resting a few chairs and a large world map displayed proudly on the wall. The map was most likely taken from one of the libraries, but where had everything else come from? He tried not to think about it too hard.

"We still have a lot to talk about," Malta stated, making herself comfortable in one of the chairs at the table, "but our first priority for now is to sleep. I don't know about you guys, but I could sleep forever at this point. …We can talk later."

From across the room, Prussia gave Malta a thumbs up from his seat on the nearest bed. "Good idea, awesome one. If we try to talk now, I won't get anything…"

"You mean it would go in one ear and out the other?" Germany muttered to himself, his arms crossed over his chest. "I thought important information already did."

China didn't hear this brief exchange, instead opting to claim his own bed while he could. "I'm hungry too, but…I still want to sleep first. Let's just do some basic healing and then sleep."

"That is a good idea." The voice came from somewhere behind England. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was Yugoslavia, supporting him with one arm behind his back.

On the other hand, Canada was scoping out the room, flinching a bit in surprise when he heard Yugoslavia's comment. "Oh, Yugoslavia. Didn't you get hurt when Steve attacked you just now? Your bandages look dirty already. I'll take care of it, if you want. Is there a first aid kit here, or anything of the sort?"

_So that is what happened._

_Yes! I knew it would start catching on!_

England shot a glance at the ex-nation behind him. Sure enough, Yugoslavia had bandages wrapped around her forehead, partially stained red at the temple. Her complexion looked a little pale and her eyes cloudy with exhaustion, but besides that she seemed absolutely fine. Her gaze was on Canada, and her usual tone of modesty leaked into her voice. "No, I am alright. Just a little shaken is all."

Malta returned to her role as the guy in charge – er, _girl_ in charge. "There's a first aid kit on the shelf in the back, bandages and everything. Feel free to use it. If you don't feel like you're about to die –" It was probably a bad time to describe major pain in such a way, but she simply ignored all of the annoyed glares she earned. "– then pick a bed and sleep. There's no need to keep watch. I've already experimented with it a few times. Oh, and be careful which bed you pick, because I think one of them is –"

Before she could finish, America plopped himself down on one of the beds in the middle and nearly had a heart attack when the bed frame collapsed under his weight with a loud _crack_.

"…broken."

Everyone laughed as the American started rambling about his weight, and the crowd quickly dispersed into different parts of the room. Most had gone to bed already – luckily there had been 14, and even with the broken one there was still just enough for everyone – but a few still wandered around the room to explore the place a bit better. Italy had gone to the kitchen area (_Naturally_, Andorra chuckled), Russia, Canada, and Yugoslavia were seated at one of the two large tables chatting quietly, and America had disappeared into the other door, which lead to a large bathroom. Malta had already gone to bed, just after saving beds for her two friends and telling everyone to blow out the candles when they were ready to sleep because the electricity wasn't quite working yet.

Andorra ignored this as she slipped into the bathroom, taking note of the four individual rooms inside before going off to do her business. When she emerged, she noticed America leaning against the wall beside the doorway into the larger room, drying his hair with a damp towel. She tried to hold in a laugh as she commented, "That was hilarious, just now."

America snorted, wiping a few water droplets from his glasses. "Don't remind me."

Andorra put aside her rudeness and scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, by the way…thanks for what you did for Yugo earlier."

"No need to thank me, Andy!" America shouted proudly, standing up taller as if that would make him look any more heroic.

"Don't call me Andy."

"I'm up to anything if I can be a hero!" Obviously he wasn't listening. "Besides, it was actually kinda Prussia's idea. He said Malta was being weird about something, and he thought I could help. …No, he helped me! I'm not a sidekick!"

_Whatever floats your boat, America._ "I guess you guys were both heroes back then. You even told England and all the others too."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. When we took refuge in that room, England hadn't said anything, had he? Before he'd said that he was going to do some kind of spell or something, and if by any chance there wasn't enough time, we'd have to buy him time. And there really wasn't, so Prussia and I just attacked the Thing. When the spell was done, it actually worked and slowed it down enough to attack it more!"

"Yeah. I guess telling everyone beforehand turned out to be the key. …Thanks."

"No probs. …Actually, it's because I don't want to lose any of my friends. And it looks like Yugo is hiding something."

"I know. I think everyone's noticed it by now." Andorra shifted on her feet, suddenly noticing her exhaustion. "I hope she'll tell us tomorrow, though…"

America looked Andorra straight in the eye. Something was off about his face, but it was impossible to say what. "I wonder if she really will. I mean, have you seen her face? She looks so determined…as if she thinks that ordinary methods won't work."

"Are you sure that's not just her regular face?" In reality, Andorra was thinking the exact same thing. _Yes, it's just like he says. …I don't know why, but she kinda looks like someone who has been standing all alone in a far away place for a very long time…_ How her brain came upon this odd description was beyond her. "Eh, whatever it is, she'll spill. Y'know, eventually." She decided to cut off the conversation there and quickly left the bathroom, making a beeline toward the beds. She caught bits and pieces of the conversation of the remaining nations as she passed.

"…_is above the ceiling of the second floor. It's a really good spot."_

"_Yes, I agree. I wonder how Malta had found it in the first place. I do not think she built this all on her own in so little time."_

"_It is amazing~ It should be interesting to have all of us sleep together, even if the circumstances aren't so good. Maybe when we get back home, we can do this again, da? It'll be noisy, and warm, and fun!"_

That was all she heard before collapsing into the bed at Malta's right, burrowing into the blanket, and giving in to the gentle pull of sleep.

-x-

**_Survivors: 13_**

**_Missing: 0_**

**_Deceased: 0_**

-x-

**A/N: Aww yeah, I'm on a roll! :D I actually finished this chapter yesterday (after putting it off forever) and I just finished chapter 29 a second ago! I'm totally on a roll! Maybe it's because I'm just awesome like that. ^j^  
Yeah, I made a reference to Bioshock Infinite up there. That game is insane, bro. Totally worth it, though. It gave me a different perspective on the whole time-travel thing that forms the basis of HetaOni. I liked it. ^j^ And the Luteces. They're cool.**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: To my awesome reader ****SCHMOWZOW the Guest (aka Kletogirl the Guest): OMZ I DIDN'T THINK I'D EVER FIND YOU *spazzes* Thanks for the permission to use your poem! I already have ideas about where I'll use it… *evil laugh* Anyway, enjoy the 29****th**** installment of **_**Book of a Thousand Mistakes**_**! I'm glad you like it!**

**Chapter Twenty-nine**

"_Russia! What happened to Andorra?" Yugoslavia's nervous question sliced through the near-silence of the fireplace room as Russia slipped into the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him. She glanced at the others accompanying them – China, England, Germany, and Japan – trying to release her pent-up anxiety by tapping her fingers on the table in front of her. The others were in no better condition; the only difference was that they had opted toward quiet mindless conversation._

"…" _Russia wasn't too keen on saying anything; his eyes showed pain, infinite pain. "…Sunflower fell asleep. Very…deeply."_

_The others fell silent, looking between each other for a moment. They had never seen the great and powerful Russia look this heartbroken. Rain was the only sound in the background; rain and despair._

"_So…now we're the only ones left." The Eurasian nation held onto his pipe with a death grip, his knuckles turning white._

_Yugoslavia blinked a few times. _No… I thought this time would be different…_ "Andorra is –"_

_In his anger, England let off a word that caused Yugoslavia to flinch away from him. "We failed again! What are we going to do now?! We've got the key. Now –"_

"_When we've lost so many?" Japan solemnly shook his head. "I can't."_

_Russia absentmindedly twisted the handle at the top of his pipe. "Yeah, there is no point."_

_England opened his clenched fist and took another glance at the aged bronze key resting in his palm, letting out a heavy sigh. "…I agree. Let's leave this key to our next selves."_

_Another mindless conversation sprouted up from this statement, this time about where to leave the key so that it would take little effort for their next selves to find it. And again, Yugoslavia distanced herself from the rest of the nations. It was just too much. She couldn't take it for much longer. She stared intently at the floor beneath her feet. "…I am sorry."_

_Somehow, she managed to make the entire room go quiet again, and she could feel their gazes burning into her face. England was the first to respond, despite being cut off mid-sentence. "Hmm? What's wrong, love?"_

"_Yugoslavia-chan, you didn't do anything –"_

"_I am sorry," she repeated, completely ignoring everything that the others were saying. She stood and started pacing, walking back and forth across the long wall, refusing to look anywhere but down. She could feel her eyes start watering, and it was only a matter of time before she wore a hole in the floor. "It was me… It is all my fault…all me! And all because…because I –"_

Yugoslavia snapped her eyes open, taking in the darkness that surrounded her. No one was awake. There was only her, sitting up her bed in the far corner of the safe room, the covers thrown to the side in attempt to rid herself of the hot flashes that plagued her during the night. _…A dream._ She turned to scan the faces of the nations surrounding her, each one somewhat peaceful within the escape of sleep. _I guess it was not quite a dream. I hate this… Even here, it is affecting me. It is because I remember so many things… Maybe it is a backlash?_ She threw a glance at the room beyond the sleeping quarters. She could see nearly everything from her vantage point; somewhere in the kitchen, a soft orange light still flickered quietly._ I am beginning to forget memories from long ago. …When did I first meet England? There was some sort of fighting going on at the time, right? When I was little, I had someone close to my heart…did I?_

She sighed inwardly, squeezing her eyes shut and relishing the peaceful silence while it lasted. _Maybe I will be able to remember if I can get out of here. Everyone is…breathing, right? Yes, of course they are. Malta is even moving a little. That is good, I suppose. I did not know this place existed, and I really did not think that I would still be alive… If I have come this far, then my next step is only logical. I should try to get a little rest while I can._

She didn't notice a sudden breath from across the room, a pair of frightened amber eyes shining in the dark, the two words carried away with the reality that came crashing down. _The voices…_

-x-

The next morning came with a much calmer mood in tow. The effect of a good night's sleep after the drama and pain of the previous day was instantly obvious once the nations gathered together at the tables for breakfast. Pleasant conversation and a few really bad jokes were passed between them as breakfast was dished out – being made by Italy, it was almost inevitable that it would be some kind of breakfast pasta. **[1]** Even mortal enemies (i.e. England and France) weren't arguing across the table like they often did at world meetings, which was quite amazing in itself.

Yugoslavia tried to act natural as she chewed her pasta, her mind still dwelling on her nightmare. Even after calming herself down, she just couldn't fall back asleep, no matter how hard she tried. And what was worse, someone had started talking in the middle of the night, something about saving the world. She suspected America. _Well, Italy looks a bit tired too. He was probably just up late making this food._

As the meal drew to a close, compliments were thrown Italy's way, dishes were cleared to one table, and everyone moved to gather around the other. Only a few chairs had to be pulled from the other table to accommodate for everyone.

"Well," Germany started, the same way that he starts most of the regular world meetings: standing at the head of the table, palms pressed down onto its wooden surface, his eyes flicking over each nation present. "Everyone has rested and eaten, so can we begin our conference now?"

Russia leaned back casually in his seat, smiling in that creepy yet adorable way of his. "Sure. I'm full and I don't feel tired anymore, so be my guest."

"Italy's food is really good." China glanced back at the empty dishes stacked on the table behind him. "He's been working so hard. I'm impressed, aru."

Italy's face brightened at China's compliment, and he sat up higher in his chair. His tired smile stretched wider. "Ve~ Thanks~!"

France started drumming his fingertips on the table. Apparently not all of the tension from the previous day was gone. "Well? Who's going to speak first, then?"

Glances were passed around, but eventually it was Canada who was able to gather everyone's attention. How ironic. "America, this all started with a single word from you, but you have nothing to do with the Thing, do you? Is it safe for us to assume that it's just a coincidence that Steve looks like Tony? That's all I want you to confirm."

Sitting across the table from his brother, America looked surprised, even flustered at the question. "Huh? You really think they look alike? I don't think so, though..." He pushed his glasses farther up his nose. "Anyway, I definitely have nothing to do with it."

"Yeah?" Prussia leaned both elbows on the table, holding his head in his open palms. "Then if we believe you, we're in even bigger trouble."

America just stared blankly at Prussia for a moment, as if trying to figure out some hidden meaning in his words. "Say what? …You don't blame me?"

A chorus of _"What?"_s erupted from several nations, the loudest being from Canada.

"It's pretty much my fault that you guys got dragged into this," America continued, glancing down and momentarily avoiding the eyes of his companions. "If I hadn't bugged you about it, none of this would have happened."

_No, that is not true. It was never your fault, America. Never…_

"I thought you'd blame me more. I'm rather disappointed. But it's okay for you to get mad at me now." When he looked up again, twelve very confused gazes burned into him, all sharing the same look of _what the heck are you talking about_.

"Aiyah… Is that really what you think?"

England huffed, crossing his arms and leveling his cynical gaze at the American. "You really do have hamburgers for brains. Stop spouting nonsense."

"Well sure, this may have started with a word from you…" Canada's motivational speech wasn't quite doing its job yet. "But we're the ones who went along with it, eh?"

"_Oui_, Canada is right. We could have chosen not to come, but we chose to come with you."

"_Hai_. You are the one who laid out the rails," Japan added, his hands folded neatly in his lap and his eyes all but judgmental, "but we are all the ones who chose to walk on them. It's not your fault."

It was never your fault.

America tilted his head a bit, thinking this over for a moment before he responded. They could almost hear the gears cranking within his mind. "I see. Well, thanks. If you say so, I…" He let the statement fade into the air, not bothering to finish it.

"That's why we need to work together!" Malta stood in her place and grabbed everyone's attention, resuming her place as leader of the pack…sort of. "By joining forces like never before, we'll make it through!" It was easier said than done. Like they say, Malta is friends with all.

Malta's enthusiasm was picked up by the other nations, who started chatting idly about anything motivational they could think of. Going home, having parties, festivals, more parties… It was all silenced with a single word.

"Hey."

All eyes turned to Yugoslavia, who was quietly sitting at the edge of the group nearest to the door. She seemed a bit fidgety, but her eyes were firm and seemed to betray no emotion whatsoever.

Andorra smiled slightly, reassuringly. "What's up, Yugo?"

"Um, well…" Yugoslavia stuffed her hands in her pockets, glancing at her friends through her hair. "…Is it alright if I speak for a moment? There is…something I want to tell you."

Italy, who had been moments ago glancing at the chattering faces around him, yawned slightly and gave her a grin. "Sure, Yugoslavia~!"

_He got my name right._ Yugoslavia shook off the thought. I am sure it was nothing. "Well then, can you all come with me to the basement? If we are not there, I can not talk."

"The basement?" Prussia exchanged a glance with Malta, as if she would know what Yugo was talking about. "Can't you just talk here, _Jugoslawien_?"

"It is really important, so… A-and I wanted to take a look inside of that wooden box. The one that was in the cell with Andorra, France, and America. There might be something important inside of it that we missed."

"Oh yeah," Andorra chuckled, her chin resting on one fist. "I didn't think about looking inside of it. You've got a good eye, Yugo!"

Malta suddenly got hyper again, waving her hand around like a maniac. Who's to say that she wasn't a maniac? "Ooh, I want to go down to the cave tunnel first! I thought I saw something lying on the ground when we went back there yesterday, but I didn't have time to pick it up."

Shooting a brief glare at Malta, Germany stood again and stretched his arms behind his back. "Alright then. Let's all head down there. We will all go together, just in case that Thing decides to show up again."

Offering a smile of thanks, Yugoslavia sighed quietly. As everyone gathered their weapons and grouped together, she reached into the bag under her bed and pulled out her journal, slipping it into the inner pocket of her jacket. She could feel the firm leather of the cover pressing against her ribs, sending a chill down her spine at the thought it produced.

_No, calm down. It is nothing. Just wait. It will work this time… It has to._

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: I have been waiting so long for this moment…and the time is nigh… :D By the way, I've got good news! I'm almost to the halfway point! According to Evo's playthrough, I'm on the 11****th**** video out of 24, so that's good~! And I think number 22 isn't plot-related at all, so maybe that can account for my head canon-y goodness! *evil chuckle* It's so fun to screw with people's minds.**

[**1] – Writing this gave me a sudden craving for breakfast pasta. Let's see…sausage, bacon, pasta (obviously), some kind of cheese sauce… Mmm. (Okay, if anyone actually makes a breakfast pasta, send me the link to a picture. ITALIAN FOOD FOR THE WIN)**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: By the way, never eat a footlong chili dog and drink a huge chocolate milkshake and the neat nothing else before you sleep. Even if it's several hour before. They give you weird, messed up dreams, man. I should know. ._. Anyway, back to the story~! Here's chapter 30 for ya! Cupcakes to all!**

**Chapter Thirty**

Five minutes.

It took five minutes for everyone to get ready for the new day ahead.

It took five minutes for the nations to make their way into the basement and split up into two groups: one to explore the tunnel itself, and another to hang back in case of trouble.

But somehow, it only took five seconds of searching for Malta to make her conclusion.

"…Well this was pointless."

Andorra looked up from examining the floor a few meters away, watching Malta as she stood and stared blankly at the ground beneath her feet. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Didn't you find anything?" Russia didn't look up from examining the wall nearest the door, one hand casually placed in his pocket.

"Nothing," Malta sighed, crossing her arms and kicking a tiny stone across the tunnel. "I mean, I wanted to come back to look for whatever had tripped Andorra and made her fall over yesterday."

Japan nodded in agreement, brushing a bit of dirt off the knee of his kimono as he spoke. "I see, Malta-chan. That's a good idea. Someone could trip over it and get hurt."

"_Someone_ already did," Andorra muttered under her breath, gently rubbing her sore back. She could feel the bandages under her clothes holding her wound closed.

Even though no one was supposed to hear this rude comment, Yugoslavia did. "Speaking of, you should rest your back, Andorra. Too much moving around and you could open your wound again." She said nothing about her own injury, marked only by the fresh bandages wrapped around her forehead. "Anyway, are you sure you can not find anything, Malta?"

"Nope. Not a thing. I can't even find a single vine, and all of these stones are way too small to trip over. They're like pebbles." She picked one up and rolled it between her fingers. It probably wasn't bigger than an M&M.

Across the room, America chuckled quietly (or as quietly as was possible for the American). "Hey, maybe she tripped on a ladybug." His statement was met by a chorus of _kol_s, at which he suddenly started trembling. "Hey, what did I say? I'm just trying to be funny! It's like a flippin' horror movie up in here!"

"Well, it is dark in here," muttered Japan, producing a flashlight and holding it out to Malta. "Did you look properly? Do you need this?"

Malta pushed it away. "Nah, I'm fine."

"I'm sure it was right there, whatever it was." Andorra walked over to Malta, following her gaze down. "It had to be. But there's nothing. No obstacle at all. There's no stone, no vine, nothing. …It makes me wonder if there was never anything to begin with…"

_That is right. Even if we try to find it where she did not fall, we will never find anything. But when she did, there was something entwined around her foot that would not let him move. It is almost as if…_

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Canada gave his brother a pat on the back to calm him down, ignoring the fact that his functional invisibility probably just made him freak out even more. "…It's almost like someone tripped you and wouldn't let you move."

_Could that have been it? No way. That's too creepy. …Then again…_ Andorra nervously bit the inside of her cheek. "Actually, I'd assumed it was a vine or something, but now that you mention it…well… It kinda felt like…like someone had grabbed my ankle…"

That sent the American overboard. "Stop! Just stop it, bro! Let's stop talking about this! There's nothing here! Can't we just leave it at that?! Screw this, I'm outta here!" With that he stormed away, flinging the door out of his way and sealing himself away in the other room.

"…Well that happened."

"Grabbed…" Russia tapped the end of his pipe to his chin in thought. "…It's like a hand sprang out of the earth and grabbed your ankle~"

"And then tried to drag you into the earth…" Although everyone heard the frighteningly malicious tone that suddenly possessed Japan's voice, no one dared to say anything about it, probably out of fear.

Andorra's palm went straight to her face. "Ugh, I give up! Just stop it! It was probably just my imagination, that's all! Anyway… There's nothing out of the ordinary here, so let's just leave it at that."

"I like that plan." Yugoslavia was fiddling with the zipper of her jacket, probably just trying to give her fidgety hands something to do.

Pushing past everyone else on her way to the door, Malta led the rest of the group toward the rest of the house. "Yeah, me too. Now, let's go to the place where Yugo wanted to go! To the cell room! …Right?" She glanced at Yugoslavia for confirmation, her confidence returning when she received a silent nod. "Right! Onward!"

The nations filed out after Malta, all walking one after the other until only Yugoslavia and Japan were left. Yugoslavia offered for Japan to go first, a gesture with which The Orient nation responded to with a quiet _arigato_.

"You looked very focused while we were searching, Yugoslavia-chan," Japan observed, folding his arms neatly in front of him. "Were you looking for anything specific?"

A shocked expression passed over Yugoslavia's face, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. She slipped one hand into the pocket of her jacket. "Oh, no. No. Nothing in particular." Their conversation was cut off when they emerged into the reading room, being bombarded with the mixed chatter of their companions.

What Japan had seen was Yugoslavia resting one hand in her pocket. What he didn't see were the muscles in her arm pulling tight as she clenched her fist, protecting a small metal object from the outside world.

-x-

"There it is. In the far corner of the cell, there."

After the group of nations had moved away from the reading room and regrouped in the cell room, the cell door was unlocked and the first few – Russia, Italy, Prussia, and Malta – pushed their way inside to try their luck at opening the crate. Andorra had informed everyone that it was most likely attached to the floor somehow, since it wouldn't move when she was stuck in the cell with France and America.

As the first four attempted prying the lid off with their respective weapons, Canada shot a glance at Yugoslavia, who had her hands stuffed shyly in her pockets. "I wonder what's in there," he mused. "Maybe something heavy, if it won't move…"

"Maybe hope." The words came out of Yugoslavia's mouth before she could stop them, but instead of trying to redeem herself, she glanced through the bars at the others. More nations were squeezing in with every passing second, each one claiming to be stronger than the last and ultimately failing to open the box. Even with the use of Andorra's pickaxe, Malta's meat cleaver, and Japan's katana, it didn't seem to move even a millimeter.

In the corner of her eye, though, she saw something. Italy was hanging back from the crowd, almost pressing his back to the bars he was so far back. He barely moved; he just stared distantly at the box with oddly wide eyes, muttering something too quiet to be heard, fiddling a little with his fingers as he watched. For some reason, it seemed too odd to Yugoslavia to be a result of stress. _He has never done that before. Why now? What is so important now?_

She didn't realize how long she had stood their watching, because the next thing she knew, Canada was inside the cell with nearly everyone else, attempting to pry the crate open. England was the only one outside the cell; he was standing to Yugoslavia's left, watching the chaos himself with darkened eyes.

"…Maybe w-we should try going in there," Yugoslavia stuttered, not bothering to meet England's eyes. "They might need a little help. …M-maybe your magic would work. I would not be of much help, though, so…"

"I see." England didn't let her see his slightly worried face as he led the way into the cell. He passed through the doorway in the bars and quietly considered Yugoslavia's comment for a moment. _She's been acting so odd recently, especially today. Maybe something's wrong… I should try talking to her the next time I –_ The next thing he knew, he was laying face-down on the ground, coughing up stray dirt, his nose sore from the impact. A second later, a loud _SLAM_ broke through the cloud of conversation, immediately followed by a rather soundless _click_.

Nearly startled out of their skins by the sudden noise, the nations snapped their heads toward the steel bars of the cell, staring in shock at the single figure that remained on the other side.

"Yugo?!" Malta gasped, striding forward to wrap her hands around the bars. She was quickly followed by several others, namely Andorra, Canada, and Italy. England managed to scramble to his feet and take the spot at Andorra's right.

Yugoslavia, meanwhile, had taken a few slow, ominous steps away from the bars, her face suddenly devoid of all emotion. She could have been a statue; her features had hardened into an emotionless mask, her eyes dulled faintly. It was almost as if she had turned to stone. "America, you can say it now."

"…" America was stunned by the venom hidden within the normally shy nation's voice, unable to say more than a word in response. "…Yugo!"

"Say it," Yugoslavia demanded, turning her head to look him directly in the eyes. "Say it in front of everyone. Who lured them here?"

All heads turned to America, who started to sweat nervously at all of the sudden negative attention. China was the first to speak. "What is she talking about, aru?!"

Russia's eyes never left his Balkan cousin, but his words were directed elsewhere. "_Amerika_?"

Taking advantage of the shift in attention, Yugoslavia marched toward the exit door to the cell room, not daring to look back at her captives. "By the way, there is nothing inside that box. It is just an empty box. Sorry about that." It was obvious that she wasn't sorry.

"It can't be…" For once, Canada's words carried throughout the room, startling all with its new ferocity. "Yugoslavia, what's the meaning of this?!"

Germany clenched a fist to keep himself from screaming, but anger flowed through his voice anyway. "America, what's going on here? What are you hiding?!"

"…" Yet again, America wasn't willing to answer.

"Well?" Yugoslavia stood feet from the exit door, mere meters from leaving everyone on their own to fend for themselves. "Are you not going to say it? Why not? You should try reading the atmosphere for once!"

"Yugoslavia…" England's voice had reached a dangerously low level, and by the time she noticed this he was at the locked cell door, pulling at the bars as if brute strength alone could get them out. "Y, _open this door_!"

"But if I open it, you will all get mad at me. …Then again," Yugoslavia considered, "you already are."

"Son of a –"

"Yugo…" Andorra finally found a chance to speak, but the second she could, her words left her with nothing but the name of her friend, and now, captor.

Yugoslavia finally glanced over her shoulder turned her eyes toward the gathered nations, staring past the vertical bars that blocked the path between them and her. "You will not tell them? Fine, then. You see, I am the one who told him the rumors about this place."

A chorus of _"What?"_s erupted from several nations, the loudest being from Italy, who was shaking like a leaf. His eyes were still distant and clouded with some emotion she didn't bother looking for.

"I am the one who told America," she continued, as if the interruptions never happened. Her voice was so different than it had been before; her entire personality change could be described as stony, from her rough tone to her emotionless eyes. "And then he immediately went to ask everyone to come check it out."

"…" The Silent America struck again.

Japan shared a frightened glance with Italy. "Th-then…"

"Right. It was not America who started this. Because _I_ told him. That is why you are all here now."

"_You_ told _him_?" Prussia laughed out loud, though no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get anyone to laugh with him. "You're kidding, right? …Why?"

"No reason in particular. I just happened to hear the rumors about this place, and then I told America about it."

"Why are we locked up here, then?" Andorra snapped, her patience quickly wearing away.

"Hmm, good question." Yugoslavia almost seemed like she had to think first before answering. "Because you would get in the way? You would all gang up on me and ruin my plans. So, just stay here for a little while, okay?" She ended her explanation with a tiny smile, one that sent everyone's tempers to their limits.

Prussia's voice had become the loudest of them all. "You're kidding me! You're fu –"

"Language," Yugoslavia scolded coldly, effectively silencing her fellow ex-nation.

England cursed under his breath. "Because time's stopped, my magic –"

"Oh, that is right. Thank you for that. You were very helpful!" Yugoslavia quickly closed the gap between herself and the door, pausing just inside the doorway for one last time. "Well, I will be going now. By the way, thank you all for helping me this far. Especially you, America; thanks for everything!"

Guess what? America still said nothing. He simply stared at her as if caught in a trance. Finally, he blinked, his eyes betraying an emotional mix of fear, worry, and regret. "You should have learned how to smile a little more naturally."

"…?" She stopped, mid-step, and focused her eyes on the annoying American. An image flashed through her mind for barely a moment.

_The Thing was gone. It had disappeared with barely a trace, thanks to England, America, and Prussia. Needless to say, everyone was relieved once they heard that they could leave the small square basement room and finally lay down for a while. Malta had told them about her secret room, and so the nations started filing out of the room, bits of conversation echoing off the stone walls. Prussia was near the end of the group._

"…_Prussia."_

_Not startled at all, Prussia turned, noticing the last person left standing in the room. It was Yugoslavia, standing against one wall with a distant expression on her face. Her forehead was wrapped in bright white bandages, partially stained red at the temple, but for the most part she looked free of injuries. However, Prussia noticed something about her that he hadn't seen before: her eyes were bloodshot, glazed over, as if she had been crying some time earlier. "Hey, _Jugoslawien_. What's up?"_

_There were too many things to say, too many questions to ask. _You are all in danger. Why would you protect me? Why would you risk your own life so save mine? …Since when are we "buddies?"_ Despite all of the thoughts fighting for dominance in her mind, Yugoslavia just attempted to offer him a look of gratitude. "…Thank you."_

"_Eh, no problem!" Prussia gestured for Yugoslavia to follow him out. The rest of the group was probably on the first floor already. "…But I think you should practice your smile a little more. You can't say that with that face."_

_Yugoslavia paused, startled, before looking down at the ground and continuing the walk. No more was said between the two ex-nations, but the tension in the air never went away._

Yugoslavia forced the memory from her mind. _No. Not now._ She forced herself to blink the image away and continue listening as America kept talking.

"Did you forget what we said yesterday? The one who laid out the rails… Yeah, it was you." America let off a dry laugh at the thought of the euphemism. "But I chose to run on them. I could have chosen not to, but I chose to get on those rails."

"Ve~ N-no one thinks it's your fault," Italy added, trembling slightly in reaction to his friend's cruel actions.

"_Kuzen Yugoslavii_!" Russia, who had barely spoken at all since the confrontation began, stared his cousin in the eye with the most pleading look he had ever come to use in his life. "Please, open the door! You don't have to do this alone…whatever it is! We can get out of here – all of us – if you –"

For a while, Yugoslavia's stony face started to soften as ghosts of guilt started circling in her mind. _Maybe we can… Maybe they can help me, and we can all – Wait. That would just end the exact same way as before… Not again…_ "…No, we can not."

"Y!" Out of sheer rage, England kicked at one of the bars separating him from her, not even noticing the pain blossoming in his foot.

Yugoslavia forced herself to look away from her friends, from that look of absolute fear in her cousin's eyes. "I will tell you one more thing. Steve…he is after _me_. That is why no matter how many of us are gathered together, it will target me and attack me first. Because of that, I have been trying to keep close to the doors as much as possible, though I now see it was a little pointless."

_That makes so much sense now… _Malta threw a look at Andorra from across the room. _She would always distance herself a little, no matter where we were…_

"This ends here," Yugoslavia hissed to nothing in particular, her words sounding as deadly as a striking cobra. There were no longer any emotions weaved through her words, only determination and anger. "I will make this the last time. …If I come back, give me a good scolding. I deserve it." She turned away and sucked in a breath, closing her eyes as she let it out.

"Yugoslavia!" Andorra tried to use the most demanding tone she could muster, but even that sounded pitiful in hindsight. "Seriously! We can help you!"

"…I have my own wars to fight." And with that, she took one final step through the threshold and disappeared into the house beyond.

"YUGOSLAVIA! OPEN THIS DOOR! YUGOSLAVIA!" England went into an even worse fit of rage than the one before, shaking the cell door wildly and not even caring whether it gave or not.

"Yugo!" Malta and Andorra spoke as one, their voices mixing together as their single word bounded off the walls of the cell, untouched.

-x-

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE THIS CHAPTER IS LONG. Over 3000 words without the author's notes. *sigh* I guess that's what happens when you write the exciting parts before you get there. Oh well. On the good side, LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! *throws party* More to come soon~!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: I have decided to post one more chapter for your viewing pleasure, even though I usually don't do that when it's barely been a day since I last updated. I just feel the need to actually do something. I've been procrastinating on literally EVERYTHING I'm supposed to be doing (writing and otherwise), I've suddenly lost interest in writing my next chapters for this, and as of now I feel horrible and tired and meh. Anyway, enjoy chapter 31 and it's plot twist that absolutely no one will see coming! **

**Chapter Thirty-one**

Safely hidden from her friends' sight, Yugoslavia sighed quietly, gripping her journal in her hand until her knuckles turned white. "They got really mad at me. England's face was so strange…straight out of a nightmare…" She almost laughed at herself for the description. _Of course it was out of a nightmare. I have been –_

She flinched slightly, feeling the sensation of something moving in her pocket. She panicked for the moment between the flinch and the realization that the movement was just her phone, which she had set on vibrate at the beginning of the day. She also remembered that it was close to dying soon, but she ignored that fact. "My phone…? Hmm… Who is it? …And how can they call me if there is no reception here?" Not bothering to check the caller ID, she fished the device out of her pocket and punched the Send button. "_Pozdrav_? …Er, hello? "

"_Hey, what you so long to answer? I was starting to think that something had happened to you!"_

That voice… It seemed like several eternities had past since Yugoslavia had last heard that voice, and just the fact that it was there at that moment gave her the tiniest spark of hope. "I-is it true? Is it really you? …Y-you are Wales, right?"

Wales, younger sister of England, good friend of Yugoslavia, sounded a bit confused by the slightly obvious question. _"Uh, yes. Of course it's me. Don't you have caller ID?"_

"It can not be true…" It seemed impossible – heck, it was impossible – to contact anyone outside before, but now… "…Why did you call, Wales?"

"_What're you talking about? Anyway, listen…" _Wales trailed off slightly, not quite sure what she was hearing from her end of the phone. _"…Are you crying?"_

"No," Yugoslavia stated, clearing her rapidly drying throat before continuing. She felt tears threatening to fall, but she didn't dare let them. "…Wales, could you talk someone into filling in for me at work tomorrow? Serbia, maybe?"

"_Huh?"_

"Tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and maybe forever…" Yugoslavia's voice got quieter with each option, only returning to its former volume when she asked, "Can you?"

"…_Uh…"_

"Please. I am not sure if I will be able to –"

"_Wait, it's your job, isn't it? Can't you just do it yourself?"_ Wales mumbled something under her breath before continuing her speech. _"… Hey, whe…land…cal…he…nswer…the…han…"_

Yugoslavia felt herself start to panic, pressing the phone's speaker closer to her ear like that would fix the reception problem. "Wales? I can not hear you! Hello? Wales!"

She was rewarded by the sound of a dead line.

"It got cut off…" She stifled another sigh, instead trying to look at the positives. "Her voice. It has been so long!"

…_I wish I could go home._

-x-

"What? No! I got cut off! Geez, first England, and now her too… Eh, whatever. At least I know she's okay. I'll just have to take this into my own hands."

-x-

The warm, stuffy air of the cell room weighed down heavily on the occupants' shoulders, mocking them, constantly reminding them of the reasons they were there in the first place. Many of the nations decided to come up with a plan of escape and use their weapons to force their way out of the cell, but so far that plan was failing horribly. Those who weren't attacking the bars with their weapons were sitting against the far wall, watching their comrades work, quiet chatter drifting between them.

Japan took a few steps back from the bars, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and staring dismally at the obstruction keeping them cooped up within. "It's no use. My katana can't cut the bars."

"We can't just use brute strength…" Andorra leaned against her pickaxe, staring at the one place on the bars she had hit countless times with all of her strength. She couldn't tell the difference. "Too bad." She threw a look back at her companions, forcing herself to keep her eyes away from a certain defeated Brit kneeling by the cell door. "I don't know what Yugo is going to do, but we have to go after her, and fast."

"But then we can't get out," Canada added, sitting across the room and poking buttons on his phone in attempt to regain reception, "unless someone opens it for us from the outside."

England didn't bother to stop staring at the wall beyond the cell, pursing his lips angrily at the thoughts going through his head. "…Someone? _Someone_?! Everyone is in here, Canada! You all walked right into her bloody trap!"

"Hey, back off! You did too, y'know!" America's angered outburst seemed to be just enough to force the Brit into silence, but he didn't bother stopping just because of that. "None of us knew what Yugo was pulling, so don't start shouting like a maniac!" He obviously didn't care about being a hypocrite at the moment.

"You should have known, you hamburger-loving moron! You were the one to get us all into this mess, anyway! How do we know that you didn't help her?"

"Me? What the heck! I thought you trusted me for once!"

"Well obviously not anymore!"

"Guys!" Malta's shout forced the two bickering nations back into reality. She glared at them from her place sitting near the far corner. "Stop fighting. You're freaking out Italy."

Italy himself was sitting on the wooden crate in the corner, his knees pulled up to his chest and his eyes placed firmly on the wall ahead of him. His eyes had that same distant, misty quality that they'd possessed the moment he first laid eyes on the crate. He was starting to tremble a little despite the stuffy air, but he didn't seem to notice. His thoughts were too far away for him to care.

"_Whoa! Wh-what is this?! What are you all doing?!"_

Italy's attention snapped to the blurred figure dashing into the room, watching as he skidded on his feet and stared in shock at the gathered nations on the other side of the bars.

"_Huh? What?! A zoo? A world zoo?! Do not touch or feed the nations?!"_

He could have recognized that accent anywhere. Italy leaped up from his seat and flew to the bars, his face locked into an expression that was both parts newfound excitement and leftover disappointment. "Spain, Spain! _Tu sei qui!_ You're here!"

"Italy, what are you talking about?" Germany leaped to his feet and tried to snap the Italian out of whatever weirdness he was going through, but it wasn't going so well. "Italy!"

_"Oh, I just remembered! By the way, don't you guys have a ladder or anything like that? Roma –"_

"Romano? _Mio fratello_ is here too?" By now, Italy was literally jumping up and down in excitement, reaching through the bars toward the figure he saw on the other side. "This is fantastic news! Where is he? Is he in the tunnel still? Oh _meno male che_, we have a chance again!"

"Italy! Snap out of it!" A pair of strong hands pulled back on Italy's shoulders in attempt to pry him off of the bars and away from whatever delusion he was seeing, but the Italian stayed firmly in place, planting his feet on the ground and not letting go.

"_Ack…! Wh-what? What do you mean? I mean, didn't Ita come this way?"_

Italy's face fell, just a little – just enough for terror to flash briefly in his eyes. "Huh? Spain, I'm right here! I've been here the whole time! Listen to me! I didn't go anywhere! I didn't do –" He cut off his sentence sharply, watching in horror as the figure – the one that had seemed so real just moments before – dissolved into the air, leaving nothing but a shattered mind in its wake. Italy's entire body went limp, and he fell weakly to his knees. "Spain…"

By then everyone was standing, trying to get a better view of whatever was happening with Italy. It was painfully obvious that someone had to do something to calm him down, but considering no one actually knew what was happening, it was a while before anyone actually volunteered to try their hand. This eventually ended up being Malta, and despite her being completely clueless as to what was happening, she kneeled quietly beside the Italian. "Italy. Hey, you okay?"

Italy wouldn't respond. He had is eyes closed now, maybe to protect him from whatever else could have been out there wanting to trick him. "Spain. He was there. I know he was…" He sniffled softly, his voice suddenly flat and almost too quiet to hear. "…I f-forgot it…"

Placing a comforting hand on his back, Malta leaned forward in attempt to see Italy's face and meet his eyes. "Forgot what, Italy?"

"Nothing. Nothing. …M-my medication." It was impossible to say whether Italy actually wanted anyone to know this or not. He wasn't even sure himself. "It started wearing off l-last night… Keeps g-getting worse… S-seeing things, hearing v-voices…" His throat tightened with the effort of explaining, so he just silenced himself and curled into a ball with his back pressed against the bars. He didn't dare open his eyes.

A think silence descended onto the nations as Malta looked to the remaining Axis Powers for help. All three – Prussia included – just shrugged silently, just as clueless about what had just happened as everyone else. Unable to do anything else, everyone just took a few steps away and resumed their previous conversations, their eyes constantly flicking from their fellow nations to the frightened Italian in the corner. Not really having anyone to speak to, Malta just listened to the conversations around her, branding their statements into her mind.

"_Whose side is she on, though? Steve's or ours?"_

"_She seems like she wants to sacrifice herself for our sakes…"_

"_This is making my head hurt…"_

"_I hope someone shows up soon, aru…"_

"_I don't think I can take much more of this."_

-x-

The sun was already high in the sky despite the rather early time of day, showering warming light onto the earth below from the middle of a bright blue sky. An ominous cluster of dark clouds crept across the far horizon, confirming the weather reports of a massive rainstorm later in the day. But in the meantime, topics as trivial as the weather were ignored in favor of more important matters. Like the supposedly haunted mansion in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains that had trapped thirteen lives within its wood-and-stone walls, for example.

The pair of figures stood at the edge of the tree line for a moment, carefully examining the ancient building rising above their heads. At some time in the past, it could have been beautiful: light in every window, the walls alive with excited chatter and constant activity from their occupants, the lawn well-manicured and bright green with the summer season, the huge wrought iron gate surrounding the property free of rust and sparkling in the sun. Those times were definitely behind this mansion, but even so, it was still quite impressive to look at. The ring of trees around the edges and filling in the space at the back were enough to make it look at least not too abandoned.

"So…" The comforting sounds of the forest were replaced by the quiet word that came from the figure on the left, the one with long brown hair and bright green eyes. She wore a green military uniform and had a cast iron frying pan clutched tightly in both hands. "…this is where they're supposed to be?"

The second figure nodded once, not moving her emerald eyes away from the gate blocking them from the mansion standing before them. She gathered her darkish auburn hair behind her and tied it into a simple ponytail. "This is the place. I'd recognize England's aura anywhere." Yet something wasn't right about this place. It was almost as if it was sucking her in, draining the power from her veins until she was left with nothing… Of course, she wouldn't tell her friend that. "Hungary, you can go back and direct the others toward the mansion. I'll go take a look around."

Hungary took a moment to stare at her friend in surprise, letting the hand around her frying pan drop toward the ground. "Wales, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, if the others really are in danger, then wouldn't we be in danger as well if we split up?"

_In danger?_ Wales bit her lip, squinting at the mansion through the grid of iron bars forming the gate. _Maybe they are, but…_ "I know Yugoslavia's alright. I just called her a second ago, but we got cut off. …And England's okay. He's weak, but he's alive." She stepped forward and pushed through the gate, which was surprisingly not locked. In hindsight, though, it made perfect sense. She glanced back at Hungary for a moment. "I'll call if anything happens. Just in case, don't go farther than a mile." Her eyes turned back to the mansion as the soft slap of footsteps in the dirt faded into the trees behind her. The gate closed behind her with a rusty groan.

"They're all taking their sweet time getting here," she muttered to herself, scanning the mansion's grounds half-mindedly. "Hungary had better get them here soon…" Her feet told her to try the front door and walk right in, but her brain stopped her before she could. Somehow, she knew the door was locked before she even had the chance to touch the doorknob. But this was normal for her, so she didn't question it.

With a sigh, she stepped back from the door, standing on the long winding path slicing the field of unkempt grass in half. "Don't worry, everyone. I'm coming."

-x-

_**Current players: 13**_

…

…

…

_**New players: 1…2…1…**_

-x-

**A/N: By the way, the scene with Italy and his…**_**condition**_** came to me while watching season 1 of the anime the other day. Near the end of episode 21, Italy mentioned something about his "medication wearing off," quickly followed by him spazzing out because the "faces laughing at him" (along with being afraid of England and France, and the fact that Germany was leaving). I haven't quite nailed down what this medication might be for disease-wise, but I'm working on it. ^j^ That's an interesting thought, isn't it?**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: I'm sorry to everyone who's been getting upset because of my lack of updates. The school year has almost officially begun, and I've had camp the past two weeks. And I've been doing some remodeling and painting, so I haven't had much time to do stuff. And I'm still stuck on chapter 34. But anyway! Enjoy this next chapter~! Just ask if you have questions about anything.**

**Chapter Thirty-two**

"What? It is not here? How can it not be here?"

A shard of light flashed briefly off of the exposed blade in Yugoslavia's hand, reflecting the piercing blue of the sky just out of reach. She had already searched the entire length of the cave tunnel with nothing to show for it, and not even five minutes had passed since she had locked her friends away – _No, do not think of it like that. You will just start feeling guilty. Think of it as…as protecting them from Steve while you are away. Yes, that is it. _She heaved a sigh, leaning back against the wall beside the gaping black hole. In any case, time to Yugoslavia had slowed to a crawl, and she hated it. Normally it would go so fast, but now…

She shook her head, digging her nails into her palms. _No, stop it. Do not think about that. Just remember what you are supposed to be doing. Remember your mission._ "…Well it is not here, after all. Where did I hide it, again…?" Sunlight from the outside streamed in waves down from the gap in the ground leading to the surface, warming her face as she scanned the tunnel. "Was it on the third floor, maybe? The library? …Maybe not." A groan rumbled in her throat. "This is making me too anxious. I just have to calm down. Then I will remember. Let me see… There was another one that I hid with America. Or was it Canada? And then there was…um…"

An odd thump from somewhere above her dragged Yugoslavia away from her thoughts, just before a shower of dirt rained down on her head. She forced herself to look away, blinded by the bright light and the dust in her eyes, until a voice came to her and echoed a million times all around.

"Yugoslavia? It's you!"

_What?_ Stumbling backwards to find a shadow to stand under, Yugoslavia stared wide-eyed up in the direction of the voice, instinctively reaching into her pocket and grabbing the small piece of metal, hiding her knife from sight. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden change of lighting, but once they did, she saw a body, and then a face: auburn hair, a bright smile, and piercing emerald eyes. _No. It can not be…_ "W-Wales! But you just… How did you…? Why?"

"Hey, it is you!" Wales picked herself up from off the ground, dusting off her shirt as she spoke. "Alright! I just got here. The front door wasn't opening, so I was looking around. I tripped on something –" She laughed slightly, sounding only a bit nervous. "– and I found this! Thank goodness you're alright. …Mostly." She squinted at the bandage still wrapping around Yugoslavia's head. "What have you guys been up to? And where are the others? England wouldn't answer his phone."

Every word that Wales said flew right over Yugoslavia's head. It didn't add up at all. _But…how? Why is she here? What does she know? How…how is this happening? This never happened before…_ "What… What are you doing here, Wales?! We n-never asked you to come here!"

The look of surprised excitement on Wales's face hardened a bit as she glanced past Yugoslavia, almost as if she could see through the ground right into the rest of the basement. "…What did you do with the clocks? Did you break all of them?"

_No… No! This is impossible! It has to be!_ "How do you know about that? What is going on here?!"

"Answer me!" For just a moment, Wales looked just as serious and angry as England had just minutes ago. "You didn't break the last clock, did you?"

_It can not be… No! This is not happening! It can not be happening! _"…Y-you were not supposed to know about that… What are you even doing here in the first place?" Yugoslavia forced herself to put on her mask of emotionlessness again, biting the inside of her cheek to keep it from faltering.

"The others had better be alright," Wales muttered to herself, swinging her legs over the side of the gap. She had no idea how far down the ground was. "Hold on, Yugoslavia. I'm coming down there right now, so don't move!"

"_NE_!" The single word came out much more forcefully than Yugoslavia had originally intended, but it was affective either way. "_Ne, ne, ne_! Do not come down here, n-no matter what! Just go home, Wales! What are you doing here?! H-how did you know?! _You are not supposed to be here in the first place!_"

Rather than trying to shout back, Wales stood, crossing her arms and setting her suddenly firm gaze on Yugoslavia. The ex-nation was frozen in her place, pinned to the ground by the UK sister's eyes. A sudden breeze tousled her hair, the color almost shifting in the sunlight. "I don't know if you've realized this, but England _is_ my brother. He hasn't mentioned it, but he hasn't been seeing as many memories as the rest of you. He's confused, but he doesn't want to show it." She reached for the black cord around her neck, taking the pendant between her thumb and index finger. "I don't know everything that he remembers – or any of you, for that matter. But I plan on carrying at least some of that burden on my shoulders!"

_Thank goodness… Oh, thank goodness… She does not know… She has no idea…_

The seriousness must have drained Wales of her energy, because the moment she finished she reclaimed her seat on the ground, sighing quietly. The wind died down as her tone calmed. "You've…broken quite a few clocks, haven't you?"

"Y-yes," Yugoslavia stuttered with a nod. "…But still, how…?"

"The flow of time got fixed. I can feel it. That's why we were finally able to get here. …Not just me. The others are coming to help too! Hungary just went back to make sure they were on course." Her smile returned, which at any other time would have been reassuring. "I've been trying to contact you all for ages! No one would answer their phone, and sometimes I felt these shocks, like part of me had disappeared…a small part, but it still hurt."

_He must not have been able to bear it…so his memories were passed on to Wales, and that is how she found us. B-but… How does that make any sense? It was me who had gone through it so many times, not England. How are his memories getting passed on? …And why are mine – No. Stop thinking about it. You are confusing yourself. What am I supposed to do now?_

"Yugoslavia?"

"…I am sorry, Wales." Yugoslavia turned around and started marching away from the gap in the ceiling, her voice just as flat and emotionless as it had been in the cell room. "I have to go. Just…go home, Wales. Go home." She disappeared into the shadows without as much as a single look back.

For just a moment, Wales was shocked into silence, watching her friend walk away just like that. She stumbled to her feet in a daze. "Yugoslavia, wait! You can't just –" …_And she's gone. Fantastic._ She glanced down at the ground beneath the ledge she was standing on, trying to estimate how far down she would have to fall just to get down there. "Hmm. There's a rope ladder. Maybe I could try going down on that." Carefully, she turned around and lowered her feet onto the ladder, one after the other, until –

"Wales! _Cymru_!"

Wales nearly jumped off of the ladder when the sudden voice snapped her out of her concentration. She had to look up and stare the voice's owner in the face, but once she did, she knew exactly who it was. A beautiful red Western dragon sat proudly on the exposed ground of the ledge, its black eyes staring at the nation with a slightly nervous glint. It was rather small for a dragon – probably only the size of a horse – but its arrow-pointed tail, massive folded wings, and gleaming darkened claws told otherwise. Wales smiled at the sight. "Oh, Oll-Pheist! What are you doing here? I thought you were staying in Cardiff while I was gone."

The dragon shook its head dismally, puffing out its chest in a show of respect. "I was. But your brother's friends told me that this place is dangerous. Flying Mint Bunny said that he wouldn't respond, no matter how many times he tried contacting him. I was only barely able to get this far. The mansion is forcing me out."

_Forcing out magical creatures, huh? That makes sense._ "Hmm. I can feel it too, but…" She glanced down at the ground beneath her dangling feet. "…I'm kind of stuck here at the moment. The ropes just stop at my feet."

"Oh! Terribly sorry, _Cymru_." Oll-Pheist spread his wings and glided into the passage, hanging in the air halfway between Wales and the ground. He braced for impact as she landed with one foot on his back then landed gracefully on the ground.

Wales glanced back up as the dragon retreated from the tunnel and reclaimed his seat on the grass above her head. If it was possible for a dragon to look uncomfortable, he certainly did. "Thanks, Pheisty. I'll see you when we get out. You go on and make sure the others are alright." With that, she turned and followed Yugoslavia's path through the tunnel, her mind buzzing with thoughts. She didn't notice the dragon leave. _I'm glad Yugoslavia is alright. I just hope the others are as safe as she is._

The oddly quiet atmosphere made Wales extremely uncomfortable, although she didn't exactly know why. Maybe it was the silence that did it. No place that contained the nations of the world – haunted or not – had ever been this quiet. There weren't even the usual traces of magic floating around among the dusty air. There was nothing. She passed through a small reading room and passed a corridor before she heard something: a sound that was almost like quiet chatter. Unnaturally quiet chatter. It was coming from the closed door at the end of the hall she was walking through, so the pushed it open and stuck her head inside with cautious curiosity.

Twelve heads looked back at her.

It was certainly a sight she wasn't expected. Twelve of the nations that had come to the mansion were seated all across the floor of the large room, all within the confines of a set of iron bars stretching from the wall just beside the door to the wall parallel to it. Most were near the bars, some holding weapons and other sharp objects – pickaxes, swords, knives, all sorts of things. Others just leaned against the bars in unhidden defeat, their eyes glittering with the faintest notion of hope at the sight of the newcomer. The first to respond was England, who, despite having the most sullen expression out of the rest just moments before, leaped up from his seat by the cell door and heaved a relieved sigh. "Wales!"  
"England!" She'd seen worse, but the circumstances still confused Wales to no end.

"Wales!"

_Wait… Who's that?_ "…Canada!"

"Wale-chan!"

"Japan!"

"Wales!"

"Russia?"

"Wales!"

"…Prussia?"

"Wales (aru)!"

"Okay! I'm a whale! We've established that!" All inside jokes aside, Wales stared blankly at the crowd that was forming at the bars like a confused child staring at the animals in a zoo. _A world zoo._ She almost laughed at the thought.

China turned to his companions, giving them a level stare. "Someone showed up, aru."

"Huh? What…?" Wales glanced around for any sign of Yugoslavia – or anything, really – but all she could see were nations and an odd wooden crate in the far corner. "What are you all doing in there?"

France leaned his elbows against the bars and squinted at Wales, as if he expected it to disappear at any given moment. "I can't believe it…" He shot a disbelieving look at Prussia. "Is she for real?"

"Wales?" Malta pushed her hand through the bars and pointed in the vague direction of the door. "Can you open that?"

In response, Wales kneeled beside the door and pulled a bobby pin from her hair. "Sure. No key?" She could feel the annoyed stares boring into her face. "Alright, alright. I get it." She twisted the pin in the lock, listening carefully to the satisfying _click_. The door swung open, and she backed away just in time to avoid the impending stampede. "…But…didn't Yugoslavia come this way?"

Andorra decided to collapse on the floor outside of the cell for just a moment, ignoring the stares she received and enjoying her freedom instead. "We'll explain later! Right now, we have to go find Yugo!"

"You mean she's not here?

"Of course not! She was the one who bloody locked us in here, Wales!"

"She did _what_?"

"_Wait!_"

The sudden outburst drew everyone's attention away from the loud conversation and toward the one person still hanging back in the doorway of the cell. Italy was standing there, frozen, staring right through his friends' heads at something only he could see. No one was quite sure of what was going to happen next – not even Italy himself – not even when he screamed, falling backward onto the ground and scooting back until his back was flat against the wall. The sound threw icy shivers down the spines of the gathered, and no one could do anything but watch as the Italian was cornered by his invisible enemy, helpless, unable to do anything to stop it.

"Ger…ma…"

-x-

_**Survivors: 14**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-

**A/N: I used absolutely no scene breaks in this chapter! Which is why transitions are probably crappy and horribly written. But that can't be too bad! …Right?  
In case you were all wondering, **_**ne **_**(pronounced **_**nay**_**) is Croatian for **_**no**_**. Although it's kinda obvious in the context. And all non-English stuff centered around Wales are in Welsh. And **_**Oll-Pheist**_** (the name of the dragon) means **_**dragon**_** in Gaelic. My friend Wales informed me of this. (Yes, it's her OC. :D)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-three**

"_Was it here?"_

_Italy found himself standing in the middle of a room on the second floor – another bedroom, he guessed. It was a bit barren for such a large bedroom, with its few bookshelves and cabinets pressed to the walls and its bed almost hidden in the far corner. For just a moment, as his subconscious took the time to consider everything that had happened in the short few minutes since his betrayal, a small part of his brain felt like none of this had ever happened, that it should have been someone else standing in the middle of this completely regular room. He shoved the thought back. It was unimportant, and would just impede his progress in finding the next metal piece._

_Sifting through the books on the shelf for just a moment, Italy sighed, crossing his arms in thought. He nearly forgot about his nails digging into the leather of the journal in his right hand. "I've finally got everyone together. I'll definitely get them to escape. …Or else I'll be confined to a world where I'm all alone…" He glanced at the cabinets across the room, suddenly not wanting to search through them. "Then again, even though I tried to be at least a little reliable, it looks like they couldn't trust me."_

_Pieces of old conversations flitted around in his head, and no matter what, he couldn't get rid of them._

Maybe escaping really is impossible…

I think you should practice your smile a little more. You can't say that with that face.

No one thinks it's your fault.

"_If I went back…" He turned his eyes to the ground, his façade of cruelty and emotionlessness cracking. "…they wouldn't get mad at me…would they?"_

_He was an idiot. He knew that now. Whether he was or not before the mansion was completely beyond him, but he had to be in order for everything to come to this. Forcing his friends into a trap, just so that he didn't have to bother with them for the time being? Just so that the threat of being judged and pestered about his role in the mansion could be avoided? He betrayed them. They wanted to get out just as much as he did. They wanted to listen to him, but he pushed them away. He wanted them to listen to him, but he pretended like they were worthless. But he had lied to himself. Really, all he wanted back…_

"_They'd say sorry, and they'd yell a lot and scold me, and then…" He pictured his friends locked away in the cell, the disappointed faces they made when he left, the relief that would replace it when he came back. "…They'd hug me, and I'd hug them…and I'd also say I'm sorry… All this time… Really, all this time… I…with them, from here… We can all –"_

_The realization had just sunken into Italy's mind when the door swung open behind him, slamming against the wall beside it and nearly being thrown off its hinges. The sound was enough to frighten even the most suspicious of people. A part of his mind wanted to scream, but he refused. Even with the harsh ringing in his ears, he forced himself to spin around and stare his new enemy in the face._

_That was when he realized that it was an entirely different Thing. _

_Somehow it had managed to clear the doorway without any trouble, but it was much bigger than any of the Things that he had seen before. Its shoulders nearly brushed the ceiling, standing nearly twice as tall as Italy himself. Its entire body was easily three times as muscular as it was before, with the same knife-sharp claws glinting in the faint light. It pushed forward, glaring at the Italian with its unchanging black eyes, forcing him to scramble backwards in a fruitless attempt to escape._

"_Oh…" Italy felt a bead of sweat drop onto his brow. He shouldn't have been afraid, but this Thing was huge. He'd literally never seen anything like it. It was holding him under its gaze, sizing up its prey with hungry eyes. Drywall pressed against his back._

Italy!  
Ita!  
Italy-kun!

_He could have sworn he heard his name – once, twice, three times maybe, before the world shattered around him._

-x-

Pieces of the obscure hallucination fell away from his vision, landing in the dark void somewhere behind his mind. A large chunk of the Thing's face disappeared and was replaced with the sight of several nations with expressions of shock on their faces. As the shards of the false reality disappeared from his eyes, Italy was locked into a staring match with the people surrounding him, his mind straining to comprehend whatever just happened. He noticed several of his friends trying to talk to him, but he didn't listen. The only thing he could focus on was the sudden frightening realization that he had hoped would be wrong. "…I know where she is."

"_What?"_ The entire group responded in unison, in the same confused, uncertain tone – except for Wales, who was still trying to figure out what the heck just happened.

Malta stared at Italy like he'd grown a second head. "You _know_ where she is?"

Nodding was all Italy could do until he found his voice. "…I-I saw it. I… She…" A picture of the journal flashed across his mind. _They were just the same... But that was me, not her..._ "…I-it was upstairs…across f-from the fireplace r-room."

Standing at the back of the crowd, Wales scanned the faces around her. They were a mix of relief, fear, confusion, and general anxiety, and she couldn't figure out how exactly she was supposed to feel. "…Wait, wait. You mean _Yugoslavia's_ up there? But she was down here just a minute ago!"

"Well what are we waiting for, then?" Andorra finally picked herself up off the ground and brushed the dirt off her pants, a serious and commanding tone added to her voice. "Let's go up there and find her! Malta, England, Russia. You all come with me. Everyone else, check the other rooms on the second floor. Italy, you stay with Germany. Meet back at the safe room in fifteen minutes unless you're dead. And if you die, be sure to tell someone." Without bothering to consider how much sense her final statement actually made, she grabbed Malta's arm and proceeded to drag her out of the cell room. England followed quickly behind, his mouth drawn into a thin line that held back whatever extreme emotions he was hiding inside. The rest came after, splitting up into their own groups and setting off to scour the house for any sign of Yugoslavia's presence.

Wales, lost in her thoughts, didn't realize how many people were leaving until she was the only soul left in the room. (Aside from Canada, but of course she didn't know that.) She dashed out of the room in pursuit of Andorra, hoping they wouldn't be too far away or else she'd be lost. "Oi, wait for me!" As she ran, finally finding Andorra's group gathered beneath an odd hole in the ceiling – _What's that all about? _– she started doubting her own memories. _…I hope she's okay. This place is so big. It actually looked a bit smaller in my memories… Oh well. Let's just get out of here as soon as we can._

The odd thing was, she couldn't sense anything. Not her fairy friends, not Oll-Pheist or Flying Mint Bunny, not anyone. There was always someone near, no matter what the case…except for now. _Just ignore it for now, Wales. We have to find Yugoslavia first. _She tried to tell himself that, but it just didn't seem to work. Defeated, she followed the others out of the basement and up the stairs to the second floor, a pang of unexplainable fear and pain pounding at her heart.

-x-

The group consisting of Andorra, Malta, England, Russia, and Wales – the group that until further notice will be called _the first group_ for the sake of simplicity – had gathered outside the door of the fireplace room in less than a minute, their worry and shock lending them extra speed. They heard a couple odd thumps from inside the room across the corridor, but even when they finally busted down the door and pushed their way into the room, they would never have guessed what had caused them.

Malta, as the first one to push her way through the door, stumbled backward when she nearly ran into the huge gray monstrosity blocking her path. She could see red splattering the ground and one of the walls around the Thing, but she could hardly see anything else. "Ack! W-what the heck?!" The others fanned out beside her, catching the horrifying scene from four other angles.

"Hah… Hah…!" Yugoslavia stood with her back against the far wall, her fingers wrapped tightly around her bloodstained knife, her breaths coming out in shaky pants. Her clothes were ripped in several places and stained a grotesque crimson, although whether it was the monster's blood or her own, only time could tell.

Andorra stepped out from behind the hulking gray Thing and stared in shock at her friend. "…Yugo?"

"Y!" England clenched his fists, as if he could actually do something to stop it. "Run! Get out of h –" He couldn't finish his sentence before the monster disappeared, its figure dissolving with a low growl into the surrounding air. Its place was momentarily filled with silence; dead silence.

Yugoslavia blinked to rid herself of her distant stare and turned her eyes tiredly toward her friends. "Y-you…found me…" She had planned on saying something else, something that could somehow explain how she managed to get into that mess, then her vision blurred. "Oh…" Her knees buckled beneath her, sending her crashing into the wall behind her and sinking to the ground without another sound.

England was the first to move, leading the others to the fallen ex-nation's side. "Y! Love, can you hear me? Are you alright?!"

"It is…you, England…" Yugoslavia coughed feebly, the faintest trace of blood slipping out the corner of her mouth. "And Wales…A-Andorra too, even though I told you…to rest your back…"

Andorra subconsciously touched the small of her back, remembering the injury the Thing had given her not too long ago. "I'm fine!"

"Why didn't you run?" Russia inquired quietly, kneeling down beside his cousin with an expression of deep concern across his face.

Wales leaned down beside her brother, still struggling to put together the events of the past ten minutes. "…You shouldn't have fought it alone!" _…Whatever that Thing was. Was it ever that big?_ "Maybe someone else could have helped you!"

"N-no…" Yugoslavia's voice was gravelly and strained; it was unlike they had ever heard it before. "D-doing that…would n-not have saved everyone… That is why I decided…t-to do all I could…"

Malta kneeled down beside Yugoslavia's feet, panic evident in her voice. "Yugo, can you move?! Just take slow breaths!"

"There's still time," Andorra told herself, ignoring the phantom pain in her back and focusing her attention toward the rapidly growing red stains marking her friend's clothes. "We have to stop the bleeding now! Does anyone have bandages?!"

His eyes dark and fearful, England grabbed Yugoslavia's hand as the other nations began their search for suitable bandages. For just a moment it was impossible to tell exactly what color his eyes were. "Just hold on for me, love… Why do you always have to do things like this on your own? Take a look around you!"

_When you wake up,_ Malta told her friend within her mind, _I'm gonna freaking kill you…_ Of course, she knew she didn't mean it.

"Aww…n-no…" It was almost as if the ex-nation had actually heard her internal comment, even as her strength and breathing were deteriorating fast. Maybe she had. "But w-when I…wake up again…I will be… Oh…but I am…s-so tired… And it…really h-hurts…"

Andorra gritted her teeth, finally just taking off her jacket and wrapping it around Yugoslavia's thigh, where the most crimson was seeping out. "No, stay awake, Yugo! Just keep talking! You'll be okay!"

The words seemed to fly right over Yugoslavia's head, her eyes going wide despite their unfocused look. She suddenly started panicking, talking more quickly than she had for the past minute or two. "W-what am I going to do? I have not even…" She couldn't finished her sentence before her head lolled to the side, her eyes closing heavily, the rest of her body relaxing against the blood-soaked floor.

Everyone just stared in shock for a moment, dropping what they were doing to turn their gazes toward the potentially dead former nation of Yugoslavia lying at their feet. It was a frightening thought that they actually allowed her, the weakest of everyone within the mansion, to die.

Malta blinked twice to make sure that she wasn't seeing things, dropping to her knees and no longer caring about the effects of the sticky red liquid against her clothes. "Yugo…" Upon closer examination of her friend, she noticed her chest moving the slightest bit. "She's still breathing!"

Tying her jacket tighter around Yugoslavia's thigh in attempt to slow the flow of blood, Andorra sighed in relief. "And I feel a pulse. Gosh, I was so scared…"

"We should get back to our safe place," Russia advised, and the others nodded in agreement.

"I'll take care of her injuries," Malta interjected, elbowing Andorra lightly in the ribs before her friend said that she would help too.

England finally broke out of his terrified trance and gently hooked his arms underneath Yugoslavia's body. He couldn't look away from the red stain on her cheek. "I'll carry her back. Russia, Andorra, you go and call the others back. Malta, Wales, you come with me." No one seemed to reject his taking control of the situation, so Russia and Andorra flew from the room in search of the rest of the world.

Wales got to her feet, glancing back at Malta as she followed suit. She was careful to grab Yugoslavia's knife from the ground before anyone could get hurt with it. "Did she…actually beat that monster all on her own?"

"She's severely injured," England cut in, his face completely serious and even somewhat angered. "Hurry up!" He ushered the two female countries out of the room and, with one last look at Yugoslavia's relaxed, bloodied face, closed the door behind him.

-x-

_To the me…_

_To the me who lives at some point in time…_

…_and who is not alone…_

-x-

_**Time: 10:11**_

_**Time in mansion: 01:13:02:53…54…55… **_

-x-

Assembled once again in the safe room between floors two and three, thirteen nations stood around the bed of one, all craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the bandages wrapped messily around the unconscious nation's chest and leg, and the pain visible on her otherwise emotionless face. The bed was surrounded by those closest to her: Malta, Andorra, Italy, Canada, Russia, Wales, and a sitting England; everyone else was fanned out behind them in no particular way, shape, or form.

England was sitting on the edge of the bed directly to the left of Yugoslavia's face, tightly holding her hand as if the action alone would wake her up. "She's covered in injuries…"

"She fought alone," France commented, not bothering to say anything mean to the heartbroken Brit. "It's only natural."

Canada murmured, "I heard it was much bigger than before, but…she wasn't surprised at all, was she?"

"You mean she already knew?" America inquired, an obvious look of confusion spread across his face. "Or…"

"We should think…" Germany didn't seem keen on speaking at the moment. "…that she's already seen it many times over."

Andorra nodded faintly and tucked her hands into her pockets. "I agree. That explains her emotional strength and why she's gotten so used to fighting…" _She is – was – a pacifist, after all…_ "…I don't think she had that from the very beginning."

"It feels like something she accumulated and then finally took shape. But we can't really be sure." Japan took his eyes away from the bloodied bandages for just a second to look at Italy, who was trying to hide his trembling. "We have to hear it from her own mouth."

Prussia leaned passively against the far wall, acting as if this was just a minor bump in the road between now and their escaping the mansion in the near future. His eyes told a different story. "What can we do, then? We can't just demand that she tells us everything as soon as she wakes up. Do you really think she'd tell us just like that?"

Shifting on his feet from his place beside Japan, China retorted, "Well if we don't ask, we'll never know, will we? I think we should at least try to figure something out, aru."

"I disagree." It was extremely strange to see Russia not agreeing with China, and even more so to see him while not wearing that ever-present so-kind-it's-creepy smile. The only expressions on his face were confusion and insecurity. "If we try to talk to _Kuzen Yugoslavii_ when she is already so weary, she will only feel cornered."

Malta crossed her arms to keep from lashing out at anyone – she really wasn't in a good mood by now. "So you want us to keep going like this, with us in the dark and only Yugo in danger? I think we should interrogate her. At least that'll help lighten whatever's on her shoulders."

"B-but…" Italy's voice sounded pitiful at this point, as if it was him who had been hurt instead of Yugoslavia. His hallucination was still fresh in his mind. "…have you seen her face? I don't think she'll s-say anything that easily. Can't we w-wait a little before we try asking her?"

Canada wasn't so sure. "'A little?' How long would we have to wait, exactly? We don't have much time left how it is. If it's the only way, even if we have to be a little overbearing…"

Glaring at the ground between her feet, Malta took a deep breath, pushing back her pride before she spoke. "England, what do you think? Should we interrogate her, or wait for her to talk when she's ready? …I want your opinion."

Breaking his gaze away, England squeezed his eyes shut, effectively hiding the full-blown fear hidden within the emerald orbs. "I…just want her to wake up first. More than to interrogate her or to wait…more than anything, I want her to wake up. And then, if she wants to talk, I'll listen, and if not, I won't ask her anything. …I think we should try trusting her."

"…Yeah." Andorra clenched her fists inside her pockets, silently wishing that the unexplainable guilt that plagued her mind would go away. "Even Yugo's learned a thing or two, right? When she wakes up, her opinion will be important."

Japan put a hand on Italy's shoulder in attempt to calm the younger nation down. "Indeed… Let's wait for her to wake up."

At that exact moment, England sat up straight. There wasn't exactly something wrong, but he could've sworn that he's felt her hand twitch… Not only that, but a moment later her head moved, and a soft groan filled the silent space.

"Oh, she's awake," Russia stated, as if it wasn't obvious to begin with.

Wales shrunk back a little, scooting slightly away from her injured friend. "Give her some space!"

Completely ignoring his sister's demands, England leaned in a little closer, wishing that she would finally open her eyes once again. "Are you okay, love? Hey."

And a second later, she did. She squinted despite the faint light that fell over the safe room, not showing that much of her eyes. What did show looked clouded and dull from exhaustion, blood loss, and who knows what else.

"I'm so relieved. Yugo, do you know where you are?" Andorra stood to Yugoslavia's left, pushing back her feelings of concern and leaving behind only happiness.

As her eyes got more and more used to the light, Yugoslavia opened them a little wider, staring blankly at the nations surrounding her. She wasn't sure of what to make of it all; even as she scanned the faces of those surrounding her, all that she could do was sit back and try to make sense of it all. _Sense…_ It was a long time since she actually thought about anything that made sense.

"Yugo?" Andorra's concern was back and as annoying as ever.

Italy had stopped shaking quite a bit when she woke up, but he could feel himself start to tremble again and deliberately stuffed his hands into his pockets. "W-what's wrong?"

"What's the matter, Yugoslavia?" Canada could barely be heard over the silence encircling them, his voice was so quiet.

Once she somewhat broke from her trance, Yugoslavia tried saying something, but her voice was too weak to make out nearly anything. "…are…"

"I'm sorry, Y. I couldn't hear you. Can you say that again?" England's expression was hopeful, maybe with a faint twinge of despair. His eyes showed nothing more.

Yugoslavia looked about ready to lose consciousness again, but she held on for at least another moment. "Who…a-are…you?" Her question was greeted by silence, a silence she wouldn't have been able to hear even if she was fully conscious. A lightheaded feeling erupting in her mind, she turned her eyes to the only face that she was sure she recognized, making an attempt to state their name before her strength faded away. "I-Ita…ly…"

And then she was gone again.

-x-

_**Players: 14**_

_**Survivors: 13**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

…

…

_**Lost: 1**_

-x-

**A/N: DANG IT THESE CHAPTERS ARE SO LONG. This one clocks in at over 3600 with just the text alone! Not the author's note or anything! :D And the next chapter is gonna be so fun for me~! Have fun with this! And everything will make at least a little bit more sense soon… *evil laugh* I'm having way too much fun writing this.  
*By the way, I have a quick notice to anyone who's interested in my other Hetalia fanfic **_**New Student**_** (I know a certain Fanfictionite by the name of vaskeemi). I will be updating that as soon as I can get the rest of it typed up. I believe I actually have the end of the next chapter written down somewhere, but I have to find it first. ;) Thank you all for being patient!**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER GMIOHNEOMB. I swear, this one took me so long I felt like my head was gonna explode. But it's done now, so it's all good. :D Enjoy~!  
I swear, I really should be working on my other fanfics… DX Whatever. I'm considering going on a brief hiatus from this one so that I can actually do something with my other stories, but I dunno. In the meantime, enjoy this feelsy chapter.**

**Chapter Thirty-four**

_The only thing I remember vividly, _

_to the point I can not breathe, _

_is when we first came here._

_Even while everyone was trying to think of a way to escape,_

_I did nothing to help…_

_I had to be protected like an idiot…_

_Meanwhile, everyone else was getting hurt._

_And I was alone._

_One after the other, they lost their lives right before my eyes…_

-x-

_**Third floor – Piano room**_

"Malta! Prussia!" The names bounced off the walls of the piano room as the small search party skidded to a halt in the doorway, visibly flinching back at the sight of the carnage. It had been a shock to everyone when they realized that Prussia and Malta hadn't come back from their brief water run, although most suspected that they had simply gotten into another one of their pointless arguments on their way to the first floor bathroom. Despite this, the survivors still decided to split up and search for them, one group downstairs, the other upstairs.

Yugoslavia had been lagging behind, lost in her thoughts, but she still noticed the shock on the faces of her group members as they stared into the piano room, horror and uncertainty sparking in their eyes. She squeezed through the doorway as the others filed into the room, her breath catching in her throat when she finally saw the scene.

Streaks of sickly crimson decorated the previously plain room, brushed across the wall, floor, and piano like paint from an oversized brush. A pool of the same color was forming beneath the formerly white instrument beneath a pair of figures slouched beneath it. One had silver hair; the other brown.

Recognizing the faces, the group members – Germany, France, America, Italy, and Yugoslavia – crouched down around the piano, only able to say the names of the victims. The two didn't seem to notice them until America poked Prussia's cheek and flinched back in terror. The ex-nation's skin was cold.

Her face dotted with red, Malta looked up sluggishly, not releasing her grip on Prussia's arm as she scanned over the faces around her. She tried to speak, but her voice was hoarse and scratchy, as if she had been crying just before they arrived. "…Hey."

"Malta…" Yugoslavia shook her head, not wanting to believe anything that was happening. _It could not be true. It could not be true…_ "W-what happened? Please tell me you are okay…"

Malta didn't say whether she was okay or not. Rather, she stayed silent for a moment, looking back at Prussia's unmoving face. It was odd for her to be this quiet for so long. "…We were getting water, like you said… We were bringing it back to the…fireplace room… On the staircase, Steve got us." She lifted Prussia's back from the ground, showing three deep slices running parallel to one another. They were still leaking blood. "He chased us up here… He wouldn't attack us under the piano… P-Prussia didn't have much time anyway…"

America's face was blank, though he was digging his nails into his palms at the same time. "…You mean he's…?"

Beside him, Germany had more grief written on his face than anyone had ever seen before. His eyes wouldn't move from Prussia, even then Italy started clinging to his arm. "_Bruder_…"

With the tension hanging thick in the air, France chose to stay silent and hold back his cries of disbelief. _Mon ami…_

"H-hey, Yugo?" Malta's voice split the silence, returning everyone's attention to herself. She suddenly looked extremely different than before; her skin was pale, her eyes clouded and bloodshot, and the infinite smile that always lit up her face had disappeared. She clamped one hand around her arm, as if that could hide the growing red stain from the eyes of her friends. "He…he t-told me to…tell you…" A weak cough cut off her words, bringing with it the disgusting taste of iron over her tongue. "…t-tell you to w-watch out…f-for me… You d-don't have to… I am…on my w-way…" She paused like she was trying to decide on where she was actually going, glancing up at the bottom of the piano with a distant gaze. She never spoke again.

An eerie chill swept across the room. The scene was heart-wrenching – there wasn't a living soul in the room that didn't have tears threatening to well up in their eyes. Italy was already crying a waterfall, holding Germany's arm like that would bring Prussia back. "He's not gone… He _can't_ be! This is all a dream! Right, Germany?!"

The German couldn't respond, staring down at the body of his deceased brother with a look that he himself didn't understand. If only it was…

"Does that mean we can all die in this place?!" Leave it to America to point out something like that. "B-but Prussia's just an ex-nation, right? Right?!"

Yugoslavia stared at the puddle of blood forming underneath the two passed nations, not noticing it lap gently against her knees. "…Malta was not."

-x-

_11…_

-x-

_**Second floor – Bedroom**_

"They were here! I know it! This way!" Italy's resolve never faltered as he marched around the corner from the fireplace room with the rest of the survivors in tow. No one really knew what was going on – even with Italy's rapid explanation that he had to go to the bathroom, Germany and Japan had to go out to find him, and he was sent back when Steve came out of nowhere and attacked. There were still too many questions to be answered. Why didn't he tell anyone that he was leaving? Why would he go alone if something like that was happening? …Why was he acting so jumpy all of a sudden?

Of course, Italy wasn't thinking this. He was just forcing himself to move forward, his hands balled into fists and his eyes not moving from his destination. The moment he reached the door he flung it open, expecting to see his two friends fighting off the monster of the mansion.

Oh, was he wrong.

The only things that he found were a bunch of bloody sheets and a pair of bloody bodies on top of them. They were long gone.

Italy's eyes went wide, and for a while he just stared at the two as everyone else filed into the room after him. After what felt like an eternity, he stepped forward, sat down in the small space between the bodies of his two dear friends, and cried.

It was hard for everyone else to watch him break down like that. Glances were exchanged, tears were shed, words were muttered in the quietest voice that anyone could muster.

_It broke up the Axis…_

…_the only one left…_

…_could that happen when they were so strong?_

…_Is it going to get to anyone else?_

_Who's next?_

-x-

…_9…_

-x-

_**Second floor – Fireplace room**_

Bright orange embers glittered in the smashed hearth of the fireplace room, scattered amongst the jet-black ashes and aged bricks that used to form the structure giving the room its name. Cardinal droplets colored the wreckage, their source being the four injured figures fighting for their lives mere moments before. The monster was gone; the others were not.

Two others had come in the time it took for the Thing to disappear. What England and Yugoslavia saw as they slipped through the door was gruesome: the figures of China, France, and America slumped in the far corner, blood from their wounds coating their clothes and faces. Along with a collection of bruises and scratches, there were long slices on their backs, as well as on America's throat, the right side of France's face, and China's side. The worst of the injuries had flesh scraped away from bone and leaked the live-giving fluid like a waterfall; though they were fewer than anything else, these were the wound that would ultimately kill them.

China was the first to speak. A couple ribs poked out of his side, but he didn't seem to notice, not even when he turned his cloudy brown eyes away from the newcomers to look down at himself. "It found us, aru… Trapped us in here without our weapons…"

"Save your strength, Chine," France murmured, placing a hand on the Orient nation's shoulder, the turning to England and Yugoslavia by the door. "…We didn't stand a chance." He shivered when China's arm went cold beneath his hand, pulling away and lightly folding his arms. "Angleterre?"

England flinched back at the sound of his name in French, but even then he didn't say a word against the dying Frenchman. He gestured for Yugoslavia to leave, but she refused to go, one silent look displaying her determination and underlying fear.

"Did I…" France was momentarily cut off by America's loud coughing fit, but he wasn't fazed. "…Did I ever say I hated you?"

"Yes. Several times. At least four in the past century."

The faint pleading smile that had appeared on France's face dimmed at the sound of the unexpected response. "Oh." He shrugged, but the weakness in his muscles caused it to look more like a twitch. "…Well, I n-never really meant it. You…you're just fun to hate." The look England gave him told him that it was probably a bad idea to mention that, but he didn't really notice. "Listen, please. I know I'm dying, b-but don't…don't hate me. I don't want to die knowing that I'm that hated that much… Really, all you need is love…" He drew silent, blinking once more at his old enemy before dropping his head in exhaustion.

"…Well, since we're making requests…" America added, taking a quick glance at Yugoslavia - they had almost forgotten he was there, he was being so quiet. "Yugo…you're buds with Canadia, right? Make sure he gets out of here okay. It would suck if my little bro had to die in here too." Something rumbled in his throat, something between a chuckle and a choke, and a bit more blood spurted from his throat.

Yugoslavia, previously mute to the heartbreaking scene before her, nodded once, biting the inside of her lip to keep from crying out. Her voice still cracked, though, when she responded. "…Yes. I promise you, if I get out, so does he."

"Thanks. You don't know how much that means. And Iggybrows?" He closed his eyes, a watered-down smile on his face. "Don't be upset about the whole independence thing. I never meant it."

England turned away before the American could see the tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes. "Let's go. The others will be worrying."

With an unsure tilt of the head, she followed, afraid of turning back and seeing the next three casualties of the mansion. She could almost feel them behind her, staring over her shoulder, along with everyone else whose blood was on her hands. The feeling didn't leave her, not even as the door closed behind her, forever sealing the corpses away from the world.

-x-

…_6…_

-x-

_**Basement**_

-x-

With a final pained cry, Steve shook the bloody pickaxe out of its skull and disappeared into the air, leaving nothing but the blood splatters on the ground and six exhausted nations. The small, square room in the basement turned eerily quiet as they settled back against the west wall, their injuries oozing blood onto the dirty stone floor. Despite being on the front lines for the majority of the battle, England, Italy, Canada, and Yugoslavia were somewhat unscathed, with only smaller scratches and bruises to show for their efforts. The other two, however, didn't look as good. Both Russia and Andorra had been thrown back violently from the force of the Thing's first attack when it jumped at them from behind the closed door across the room. Not only that, but it seemed to enjoy trying to test their strength and somehow managed to push them off their feet several times after. They hadn't gotten up after the last time.

Once she was able to regain her breath, Yugoslavia pushed herself off the wall and held out a hand to Andorra. She couldn't see it in her friend's eyes, but she somehow knew that she was in pain – as if her leg, twisted awkwardly beneath her weight wasn't enough.

Andorra shook her head stubbornly. "You guys go on. Go find some bandages or something. We'll be right behind you."

"Are you sure?" Italy was rubbing his arms to hide his trembling, but it was impossible not to see the dim emotional pain in his large amber eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I just need to sit here for a second."

The others exchanged unsure glances before slipping soundlessly out of the room, leaving the two more injured nations to themselves.

Russia, who had been nearly silent ever since Steve's first attack, turned his head toward Andorra, his violet eyes emotionless and level. "You lied to them, Sunflower. Why didn't you tell them they you were in so much pain?"

Closing her eyes to shield them from the dim light, Andorra sighed inwardly, not even trying to move her injured leg from beneath her. She knew it was bent in a way that it never should bend. "They would have worried. I know I'm dying, so why not die in peace?"

Russia couldn't find any way to respond, so they just sat in silence, feeling their lives moving out of them as fast as the blood pouring from their wounds. He glanced down at his side, staring at the three parallel lines slicing through his favorite coat and staining the fabric red. After what felt like forever, their limbs weakening and their breaths slowing to a near halt, he glanced back at Andorra again. She looked like she was asleep, her head limply resting against his shoulder, eyes closed. It was impossible to tell whether or not she was even breathing. "Oh, did you fall asleep, Sunflower? I think… I think I'll join you…" He smiled faintly as he closed his own eyes, the room drawing silent once again.

They didn't notice when their friends came back.

-x-

…_4…_

-x-

_**Fourth floor – Attic**_

-x-

Yugoslavia could only stare at the key, her mouth wide open with disbelief.

"…Take it." Canada's whispering voice brought her attention back to reality. He and Italy were leaned back against the bookshelf in the attic, their spines pressed against those of the books behind them. It was hard not to notice the crimson tinting the floor in their corner of the room, matching the blotchy patterns on the clothes of the nations. The Canadian, the one holding a bloodstained bronze key in his outstretched palm, was acting oddly calm despite the circumstances, while the Italian to his left gave a much more appropriate response: trembling, muttering incoherently to himself. Even with their differing reactions, they both had a distant look in the eyes that showed what little life they had left slowly fading away.

"You…" Yugoslavia was beyond words. She promised that she'd keep them safe. She promised America that his brother would get out alive. She promised Italy that she would reunite him with his brother. Would all of that be in vain? "…Canada, you said that you were only exploring… Why? Why would you do this?" Despite her shock, she took the key and wrapped her fingers tightly around it, as if it would fly out of her hand if she didn't hold on.

Instead of answering right away, Canada withdrew his hand and stared at the wall behind the ex-nation, his breaths slowing with each passing second. "You would have done the same… It's your only chance…to get out of here. Just…get out of here. I'll…I'll be…fine…"

A sharp silence split the air around the nations, lasting only a moment, only long enough to embed itself into the minds of the living. Italy must have sensed Canada's skin growing cold, because he burst into tears, curling into a ball at the foot of the bookshelf. His frightened cries grew louder and more pained than they had been ever before. "Wah! This isn't happening! It can't! Everyone I know is gone and we're never going to get out and –" The rest of his rant was impossible to understand, the words blurred by the sobs wracking his body.

Yugoslavia couldn't bear seeing her happy-go-lucky friend in such a state, although she was tempted to let out her tears as well. Instead, she just pulled Italy into a sitting position and held him in a hug, trying to ignore the blank look that Canada was giving the far wall. "Ita… Italy, it is going to be okay. I promise." When she didn't get a response, she raised her voice just a little, trying to put a little cheerfulness into her voice. "Just think about it, Ita. You are not going to be in pain much longer. As soon as this is over, you will be at a place where you will never have to cry again."

"Y-yeah…" Italy chuckled a little under his tears, his voice soft and scratchy. "…And Germany will be there, right? And Japan…and _f-fratello_ France…a-and Ho…" He grew quiet, and Yugoslavia didn't have to see his face to know that he was in that better place.

"Do not worry, Italy. I will watch over Romano for you." She gently leaned him back against the shelf when she realized something. _Where is England? _She turned and glanced at the doorway to the attic._ I could have sworn that he was right behind me when we heard the Thing…_

A faint, pained cry stabbed at her ears, accompanied by the sound of a loud crash somewhere beneath her. Even if she didn't recognize the voice, she would have dashed from the room and down the stairs as fast as she could, praying that he still had a chance.

-x-

…_2…_

-x-

_**First floor – Library**_

The bright red splattered across the spines of books and the sickly metallic smell hanging in the air was enough to make Yugoslavia sick. But through her adrenaline-fueled dash from the attic, she forced herself to ignore it all. There was still a chance. There was still a chance that _he_ would be okay…right?

She knew she was wrong when she spotted the dark green of a military uniform through the shelves.

She flinched when she saw England's condition. He was collapsed against the wall with his head lolling to one side, blood staining the exposed side of his face over a number of bruises and scars. His hair was plastered to his head, unable to hide the ugly wound indented into his forehead. Skin was scraped away in a rough circle a couple inches across, and behind the veil of thick red blood was a marred off-white surface that Yugoslavia would rather not try to identify. Shaking off her thoughts, she kneeled beside England and gazed at his face for a moment before lightly shaking his shoulder. "England? …England, can you hear me?"

After a moment, the corner of his mouth twitched, and his eyes fluttered open in the faint light. They were dim, bloodshot, clouded with pain as compared to their usual bright emerald color. Focusing up at her face, England managed a tiny smile, his gaze offering only the smallest glimpse of his internal agony. "Y-Yugo…slav…ia…"

Relief coursed through her veins at the sound of his voice. At least that meant that he was alive. At least that meant that someone was alive. "England, we are getting out of here. You are going to be okay, I promise you!"

"N-no…" Reaching up shakily with one hand, England softly touched her cheek, silencing her with a single look. He didn't notice the blood dripping down his chin as he spoke. "I…I'm done for. Th-that Thing…" He muttered a curse under his breath. "…it got me while I…w-was following you… Chased me down here… B-but you…can g-get out of here. Just go…"

"No! I am not leaving you behind!" She tried dragging him to his feet, but his weight wouldn't allow her. "No…! You can make it, _Engleska_. You can come with me! Please, you just have to hold on…just a little longer…"

"Y-you have to. It's…th-the only way." Offering her a soft smile, he dropped his hand to the ground and relaxed against the wall. All his strength was diverted to keeping his eyes up, but it was obvious he was fading fast. "T-take care of y-yourself, love… And r-remember…I'll a-always…love…y…" Letting go his final breath, he finally grew silent, his eyes glazing over and staring unceasingly at the ceiling.

Yugoslavia was, in a word, shocked. She didn't speak, didn't cry, didn't even move for some immeasurable time. She simply stared down at the unmoving Brit, feeling some sort of emotional paralysis fall over her. She felt almost nothing as she gently pulled her arms away from his body, grabbed her journal from atop a nearby shelf, and planted a kiss on his forehead before walking briskly away. She didn't look back.

-x-

_And then there was 1…_

-x-

_Even when I followed different paths, no matter what I did, they still left me._

_If only I had not heard those rumors…_

_If only I had not told America…_

_No, this is no good. I just have to try harder!_

_What was I supposed to say next, again? Whose life was going to be in danger next, again? What…do I have to do next?_

_How many more times will I be allowed to make mistakes?_

_How many more times will I have to tell the same lies?_

_How many more times will I have to watch my friends die?_

_How many more times will I be alone…again?_

…_I made them so many promises. But when we met next, they had forgotten all about them. We had finally learned to get along, but when we met next, they were all back to normal._

_I do not want them to forget, though. What can I do? What do I have to do? How can I get them all out of here?_

_Haaa… This is hopeless. It feels like my head is going to burst…_

_I want to try harder…_

_and harder…_

_and harder!_

_But…I am so very tired…_

_So…tired…_

**A/N: I like the way the Deceiving Maiden formatted her version of this chapter, so I used it (at least most of it). I'm sorry if you don't like me using your stuff, Maiden-chan. Just tell me and I'll stop. (Even though it's so awesome…)**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Alrightie, so here's the deal. I've actually finished chapter 40 of this fanfic (yeah, I'm way ahead :D), and I think I've done enough for the time being. So I've decided to go on a brief hiatus, at least until I can update my other fanfics a bit more. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you. I'll probably add a few chapters between now and when I start working on this again. Thanks for hanging in there for this long. :) I appreciate it.**

**Chapter Thirty-five**

-x-

_**Time: 11:32 **_

-x-

The soft crackle of an ancient radio wound through the stuffy air of the safe room, providing constant background noise for the gathered nations. Of course, there were many thoughts going through their minds, even as they cleaned up the room, tended their wounds, cooked the next meal, and whatever else people do when they're trapped in a single place with a bunch of people they normally wouldn't enjoy speaking to. Most tried hanging onto the positives, even though the negatives of their situation kept creeping into their minds.

Germany got the electricity working. That's good news.

The one person that they made the mistake to trust – or was it a mistake at all? – was nearly just killed by a bigger Steve than anyone had ever seen before. That's probably not so good.

But she's alive. That should count for something.

Then again, she has no idea who the nations are or why they were all surrounding her. It's very likely that she has a concussion, or worse, there's a very slim chance that she will fall asleep at any moment and never wake up again. And then whose fault would it be?

This, in short, is the conversation that went through the mind of England as he paced back and forth down the aisle between the two rows of beds, his eyes lowered to the ground except for a few quick glances at the unconscious ex-nation. He was purposefully distancing himself from the others, and had refused to eat even when the others had started chowing down on leftover breakfast pasta. No one bothered to go talk to him, though – they were all too busy watching him walk back and forth, back and forth, back and forth like a confused lemming. It was actually kind of amusing to everyone else.

England didn't notice. He was too busy pacing.

After a while he forced himself to stop, sitting on the edge of Yugoslavia's bed and muttering quietly to himself. A glimpse of darkened brown caught his eye from somewhere beneath his feet, so he glanced down halfheartedly. Partially hidden by the shadow of the bed was Yugoslavia's journal. The leather cover had a nasty scratch spanning from one corner to the other and featured a few tiny dots of red across the pages, but otherwise it looked nearly new. It might have just been anxiety, but something drove him to open it and flip through its contents, despite whatever consequences he would have to face once he knew what was inside. It was supposed to be private, after all. _…But if anything happened, she'd want me to have it. Right?_ That was what he told himself as he opened the book to the first page.

It wasn't in English.

"What?" The question came out as a whisper as he stared blankly at the crisp white page. A series of black characters stared back at him, completely unreadable to his eyes. They looked Japanese, although he couldn't be sure. _I can't even read this! How could she…? _He flipped through the book, scanning over the pages until he saw a line that he could actually read.

_This feeling, the one of overwhelming fear…it scares me._

_Now, the only thing I can see is red: red in puddles on the floors, red dripping off my hands, red painted across the faces and clothes of the people I once knew. It is as if I have seen so much of the color that it has stained my eyes, tinting everything around me in an ominous crimson glow. None of this makes any sense to me. Then again, this place would not make sense to anyone._

_I am writing now so that I can preserve my thoughts and keep them somewhere safe. I am not sure if this journal works this way, but I might as well try. If it does, then this book will become an extremely valuable asset to me in the future – or, should I say, in the past._

_First, I have to try to summarize how I have gotten here, just enough so that I can retain this memory at another date. I have made a deal with the devil – the closest thing there could possibly be on this Earth – and a promise with everyone who was with me. But I am not sure that I can keep my promise. I have tried twice now to keep this promise, and both times have ended in complete failure. The situation looks bleak now, but I have to remain strong. Time is of the essence. I am going for a third try soon, so whatever happens, I need you to remember. I need you to get out of here, with everyone. Write down your mistakes, so that you will not make them again farther down the line. …I am still not sure of how this resetting goes. Hopefully, I will never need to find out. I just have to remember all of my mistakes, so that I will not be forced to witness any more losses, any more pain, any more red…_

_If anyone else is reading this, I am sorry. There are so many things I would like to say, should I…fail to keep my promise. But as I said, I have limited time now. I am about to be taken again; from what I can remember of my first two tries, it is getting worse every time. The clock is waiting for me, but you all have to know something._

_England, I love you. I always have, and I always will. No matter what happens. No matter what I say or do, no matter what mistakes I make. No matter how much I change when I continue this cycle._

_To everyone else close to me – Russia, Italy, Canada, Wales, Malta, and Andorra – you are all extremely important to me. Our nations' relations may not be as good as they could be, but you are the best friends that a person like me could ever have. I may often hide my heart and mind from you all, but I only do it to keep you from feeling my pain. No matter what, you were always there for me, and for that I am grateful. I wish I could be there for you, too._

_To Germany… We were never on the best of terms with each other, even to begin with, but – and I say this in absolute truth – I trust you. You might be the most level-headed one here, and if I am gone, I know you will be able to hold everything together. You may not believe that I was ever a large or important part of our group, but I need you to trust me. I am sorry that I can not explain more, but I do not know what would happen if anyone else knew._

_And to anyone else with us who may be reading this: I am trying. I honestly am trying. I have to get out with everyone…with all of you…no matter how long it takes. No matter how many times I have to start over. No matter how many times I have to live this nightmare. No matter how many times I have to see the red staining everything in sight._

_Most of all…be safe._

_Ryuuzu_

_(Yugoslavia to those who love me)_

_Ćerima Katarina Zivkovic_

"What's that?"

England jumped, forcefully shutting the journal as he spun around to face the sudden voice. The only person he saw was Wales, perched on the opposite edge of the bed with her head turned down toward Yugoslavia. She was looking at him with a faintly curious gaze, though her eyes still rippled with concern and fear. It was odd that England hadn't even heard her sit down behind him. _I must have been more absorbed in this than I thought. _"It's nothing," he snapped, lowering his hand (and the journal) to hide it from his sister's sight.

Too late. Wales knew what he was holding, and she had read the last four lines of the page before she spoke, but she didn't bother saying so. If she did, he would probably only get defensive, and no one wanted to see _that_. "Alright." Saying no more, she looked back at Yugoslavia's face. She would have expected it to be calm and peaceful, but instead it seemed tense, pained, and even a bit stressed. _This must be worse than I thought…_ "I hope she'll be okay."

A sigh escape from England's chest as he gently grabbed hold of Yugoslavia's hand. "I do too. I do too…"

-x-

_**Time: 15:56**_

-x-

Yugoslavia had no idea where she was, what was going on, or who these other people were that surrounded her, but it annoyed her to no end. The moment she had broken consciousness, someone had shoved a plate of food and a cup of lukewarm tea into her face, mentioning in a loud, excited voice how amazing it was that she was alive again. _What? _Not only that, but when she finally found the strength to take a sip of tea, she nearly spilled it on herself with the shock of a large amount of voices all cheering in some sort of strained relief. Nothing made sense to her.

She was bedridden for what felt like the longest day of her life, although it couldn't possibly have been a whole day. No one else would sleep, even though she found herself constantly drifting in and out of consciousness. There was constantly someone watching her, talking to her, encouraging her to speak, but she refused to acknowledge any of them. After what felt like years of sitting in bed, she was all but dragged across the room to the bathroom, given a bundle of fresh clothing, and told to bathe. For some reason, it reminded her of the internment camps of World War Two, although she wasn't sure why that would come to mind. Whatever the reason, she was followed by three other girls around her age – the only other girls in the room – who had been standing outside the door the moment it closed. They were still there; she could hear them shifting around outside the door. They were sitting down.

She heard the door to the bathroom open slightly about ten minutes after she entered. Whoever it was didn't want to enter, because in a moment it closed tightly, leaving her alone again. Her bloodied clothes were gone.

_Who are they? What is going on here?_ She ignored her inner voice for a moment and glanced down at her wounds. Along with a collection of scratches and bruises, there were two deep slices in straight lines down her left thigh and across her collar bone. They weren't bleeding, but it was obvious to tell that they had been not too long ago. They had been previously wrapped by someone, but whoever it was did a pretty bad job of doing it. _Oh well. I will just have to do it myself, when I get the chance._ She quickly washed the dried blood from herself and threw on the fresh clothes, examining herself in the mirror above the sink. She couldn't quite explain it, but she didn't look like herself. She wasn't sure what she was comparing herself to, though; all that she could vividly remember was this blank face, this pale complexion that the mirror showed her, these watery blue-green eyes that bordered on gray…

"Hey Yugo! You done yet?"

It was the voice of one of the girls outside, the shorter one with the abnormally loud voice. The voice hurt Yugoslavia's ears, but she didn't say anything about it. _I can not say anything,_ she reminded herself, _or I will give myself away._ "Mmm," she replied vaguely, giving herself one last look in the mirror before exposing herself to the world.

-x-

"Ve~ How is she?"

The nations were gathered around on an empty expanse of hardwood floor, forming an oval-ish shape to keep eyes on everyone at the same time. Of course, they were all worried to some extent, but no one had bothered to speak until Italy gathered the courage to ask as Wales appeared from the bathroom. He was wringing his hands anxiously, and looked as though England was about to start chasing him with a full plate of scones.

Wales had a basket resting against her hip, piled with the ripped, stained cloth of what had been most of Yugoslavia's military uniform. She looked a bit flustered, but she pretended it didn't show. "She's in the bath right now. Malta and Andorra are looking after her…" She glanced down at the basket, shuddering at the sight of the blood, and placed it just outside the kitchen. Someone would eventually get around to fixing it.

"Um… Maybe she has…amnesia," Russia suggested, his face unnaturally serious and hard. It was too obvious that he didn't want to believe what he was saying.

England's face shared that look, along with the faintest sprinkling of guilt. "No, it looked like something a little different."

"It's similar to what it was like when we had just broken a clock," Canada mentioned quietly, a shiver running down his spine.

Wales took a seat at one of the chairs by the bathroom door, a look of pure confusion on her face. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

"When we break a clock," France supplied, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, "she gets a lot of strange memories and they get all mixed up."

"That's right. Yugoslavia-chan also got so many memories that they pushed her to the limit, both physically and mentally." Japan shared a glance with Italy, wishing that the younger nation wouldn't look so upset. It was making him feel guilty inside, although he had no idea why. "She must have gotten saturated with them. If any more memories pour in, she can only reject them."

China drew his mouth into a thin line. "Reject? Reject what?"

"The memories themselves." Apparently, America knew more about this than the others had previously thought. "That's how it usually is. But Yugo still tried somehow and…the line probably turned into dots."

You mean her memories are all scattered about?" Germany asked, crossing his arms in front of him. "So if she tries thinking about them, they will return in time?"

"That has to be it. The proof is that _mon amie_ immediately called Italy's name before she passed out again…" France took a look at Italy after he finished speaking.

England followed his enemy's gaze toward the frightened Italian. "I was wondering about that. Why would she call Italy's name, of all people?"

Pinned underneath the burning gazes of those surrounding him, Italy shrunk back in his place. "Well…um…"

Before he could respond, the bathroom door opened, revealing the three female nations. The two in front looked just the same as they did before – except for Andorra, who was gnawing on a chocolate bar she had scavenged from Yugoslavia's bag – but the one behind looked completely different. Yugoslavia had put on a gray t-shirt and jeans that her friends had found in her bag, along with her olive-green military jacket. Her expression looked blank and unreadable, and along with her tied-back hair (thanks to a spare rubber band Andorra had given her), she looked like a totally different person.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Malta chattered as Andorra attempted to lead the wounded ex-nation to a chair.

America brushed it off. "Uh, no, that was pretty quick. Are you feeling a little better now, Yugo?"

_Remember your promise…_ Yugoslavia only shrugged in response, her eyes turned down toward the floor. _Remember…_

No one was exactly sure how to respond to that. She didn't appear to be in pain though, so that was a start. Then again, she didn't appear to be anything at the moment. Her face just then could have been described as stony, unmoving, cold.

"Uh, Yugoslavia-chan?" Japan asked carefully. "Are you okay?"

When her friend wouldn't respond, Andorra nudged her away toward the beds. "Her memory's still kinda jumbled, and she's a little confused. She just needs some time, okay?"

Russia smiled, but not his usual smile. This was a smile of affirmation. "Of course. Take your time."

As Malta and Andorra guided the semi-mute Yugoslavia away to tend to her wounds, the others glanced around themselves, the mildly awkward mood still hanging in the atmosphere.

"She's so…worn-out," Wales murmured, barely loud enough for herself to be heard.

"Yeah," China agreed. "She probably pushed herself too hard already. She must have kept telling herself that he could try harder and harder to protect us, aru."

Japan quickly turned the subject away from the potential death that they had just narrowly avoided. "Let's think about what would be the best course of action."

America looked over at England for a moment. "Hey Iggy, I've been wondering… What was that thing that Yugo found?"

"You mean right after she got…hurt?" England couldn't seem to find any other way to describe the event that had nearly killed Yugoslavia. "It's a piece of metal that she found in the cave, I'm assuming. I have it with me now." He fished it out of his pocket and held it in his palm for everyone to see. It was a small metal rod only as long as his palm, one end curved into a rough circle, the other tapering to a dull point. "Why?"

Examining the shard, Canada went into detective mode again. "Judging by the way she acted, it must be something necessary to escape. Even though it looks like an ordinary metal piece…"

"Maybe it's some sort of key," Prussia suggested from his seat on the surface of the table.

France glanced back at him, bewildered by the thought. "Key? But keys aren't usually shaped like this."

"Yeah, that's the point, _Frankreich_!" Prussia chuckled before continuing, "In other words, the keyhole's hidden too!"

America interjected, "But there was no keyhole where this metal piece could fit."

_I just said that it was hidden, dummkopf,_ Prussia snorted.

"We must have missed it, aru. Weren't there any places that made you feel uneasy?"

England nodded, then stopped himself, a mental conversation going on that no one else could hear. "Yes…and no… I mean, there were so many places that made me uneasy that I've forgotten about some of them."

Polishing his glasses on the bottom hem of his shirt, America nodded solemnly. "In that case, we'll have to search the mansion again."

"Understood." Japan was taking charge again. "Let's split into two groups: one to stand by, and the other to search around."

England glanced back at Yugoslavia, barely acknowledging Japan's statement. "I'm fine with either one, but… She must be hungry, so –"

"Ve~ I'll make her something then!" Italy put on a bright smile, though his eyes darted in fear between England and the kitchen.

"I'll help, aru!"

"_Oui_, so will I! It looks like the kitchen is full now~! You can search around with the others!"

"You can come with me, England," Japan offered, trying to hold back his relief. In short: no one wanted food poisoning any time soon.

Surprisingly, England didn't respond. He just nodded once and stared silently at the floor beneath his feet, looking rather disappointed.

"I'll stay, too," Prussia added. "Gotta make sure Yugo's safe from those idiots." He poked France's shoulder and laughed his trademarked laugh.

That made two leaving and four staying so far. America noted this in his mind as he asked, "Does anyone else have a preference?" No one responded, so he continued. "Okay then! England, China, Germany, Malta, Russia, and Japan will do the search with the hero! Everyone else can stand by."

Canada nodded, grabbing his coat from the chair by the bathroom door. "Alright. Let's do a thorough investigation." He let America lead the way, and the search group marched to the door and disappeared into the mansion. The other group watched them leave, then went about their business as if the meeting had never happened.

Except one.

-x-

_**Players: 14**_

_**Survivors: 14**_

_**Missing: 0**_

_**Deceased: 0**_

-x-


End file.
